Not a Wave of Trouble Roll
by Enthusiastic Fish
Summary: Sequel to On My Journey Home. Two months after Tim decided to embrace his life as a human and destroy his seal skin, he's still feeling the effects. He struggles with his friends who know, his coworkers who don't understand, and his loneliness. But someone else is searching for the selkies. A prologue, 15 chapters and an epilogue.
1. Prologue

**A/N: **This is a sequel to my story of Tim as a selkie called _On My Journey Home_. So, yes, this is a supernatural story. In _On My Journey Home_, Tim is a selkie trapped on land because his seal skin was stolen. By the end of that story, he finds it but makes the decision to destroy it so that he can remain with his human friends and family. This story starts about two months after those events.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own NCIS or its characters, but I'll claim my OCs and this story idea. In any case, I'm not making any money from it.

* * *

**Not a Wave of Trouble Roll  
**by Enthusiastic Fish

**Prologue**

_Long ago..._

She had taken the name of Shona, rejecting the name she'd had. It fit who she wanted to be.

The problem was that she wasn't becoming who she wanted to be. Her life had fallen apart as she fought to do and be more.

One day, she walked down to the beach and stared out at the wild ocean. It was a stormy day, just perfect for her current mood. If nothing improved anytime soon, she would be forced to sacrifice the person she knew she could be for simply surviving.

She felt a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and a wave of despair washed over her. She started to cry. Tears fell from her eyes into the waves.

If only there were truth to the stories that had so captured her spirit as a child.

Seven tears cried into the sea.

_Where's the selkie to heal my pain?_ Shona thought to herself.

More tears as her loneliness threatened to overwhelm her.

"Hello."

The deep voice surprised her and she looked up.

A man was standing there. He had dark hair, dark eyes and he was smiling at her.

"Hello," she said.

"You seem to need company."

"I guess I do," she said. "How did you know?"

He knelt down but made no move toward her.

"You are sad, lonely...questioning your life. No one should be alone if they do not wish to be."

He spoke with a strange cadence. It was almost like the sea was speaking to her. An impossible thought came to her mind. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be.

"I don't want be alone."

"I am here. Therefore, you are no longer alone."

She smiled. "I'm not sure I understand this. Where did you come from?"

"The sea. I heard you."

"This isn't possible."

"What is not possible?"

"Are you...are you a selkie?"

She thought she might have surprised him. He didn't answer her. She leaned forward, painful hope clenching her heart.

"All my life I wanted the stories to be real. The worst thing was finding out that they weren't. Are they real?"

He looked at her silently for a long time and then, he reached out and gently wiped away a tear from her cheek.

"They are real."

"You heard my tears."

"Yes."

She smiled, feeling something inside that she hadn't felt for so long. No matter what else came of this, she had found a confirmation that she could believe.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_A time later..._

"I'm afraid," she said.

"Of what?" he asked.

She rubbed her hands gently over her rounded belly.

"What will happen?" she asked.

"You will have a child. That is how it works."

She smiled, but only briefly.

"But this won't be normal."

"It could be. We cannot know until he is born."

"He?"

"Yes."

He reached out and placed his hand over hers.

"You are not happy."

"I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'll lose him. I'm afraid that I won't be able to care for him. My life is...not what I expected it to be, what I wanted it to be. This time with you has been better than years that came before, but I know you can't stay."

"No."

"And I'm afraid of the future."

"Do not fear the future. It will come, and it does not have to be fearful. You will have a son. You are bringing life to the world. That is a good thing. That is not something to fear."

"Will you be there? When he's born?"

"I should not be."

"I can't do this alone. I don't have anyone else."

"Then, I will be there if you need me to be."

"I do."

He nodded and stayed beside her until she relaxed again. As her due date came closer and closer, the reality of what had happened hit her harder than ever.

She was having the child of a selkie.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_A time later..._

She held her son, seeing what he was. The birth had been normal, as far as that had gone. He had been there with her but had left very quickly. For a few blissful weeks, she'd had her son and had seen that it wasn't fear she needed to feel. It was love, and she had that.

Then, just that morning, she had seen it.

Her son was a selkie. He was growing a seal skin, and that meant she couldn't keep him. She knew what would happen to him if anyone found out. She knew what could happen to the selkies if her son was seen for what he was: the offspring of a human and a selkie.

Even though it broke her heart, she knew that she had to return the gift that she had been given. Her son had changed her, had changed her life. She made a life out of her situation because he had needed it. Now, he didn't. He needed something else.

Crying tears of a different sort, she bundled him up, as much to hide his skin as to keep him warm, and carried him to the sea. Then, she sat with him on the sand.

"I love you," she whispered to him. "I hope you can know that as you grow up where I can't see you. I love you. You saved me, and now, I'm going to save you by sending you away."

"You are here."

She looked up from her son. The beach was empty. It was winter and it was stormy...much like the first time she had met him.

He knelt down in the sand and saw her tears. She removed the blanket and showed the selkie her son. He nodded.

"He is a selkie."

"Yes."

"That means he must come to the sea."

"I know. That's why I'm here. To give him to you."

He was stoic as always, but she could see that he was sympathetic.

"Not all are so understanding."

"I want what is best for my son, and I know that he can't be in the human world. Please, take him. Watch him and protect him."

"We will. All will take care of him."

"_You_ need to take care of him."

"Of course. All of us will. That includes me."

She looked at her son once more. Then, crying, she kissed him and hugged him to her one last time.

"I love you," she whispered to him again.

Then, she handed him to the selkie. He took the baby gently but skillfully.

"He will grow and thrive with us," he said. "Do not fear for him."

She tried to smile, but it wouldn't come.

"I'm not afraid for him."

One last time, he reached out and wiped away her tears.

"Do not fear the future. It will be good."

Then, he walked away from her. She couldn't bear to watch him go into the sea, to take her son into that other world. Instead, she turned and walked away from the beach, knowing she had to go on with her life, to make a new life that would give her meaning. She should have known how this would end. She knew all the stories.

...but she had forgotten that selkie tales always ended tragically.

There was no happy ending, but at least, she had seen that the tales were true. She had a son and he would live.

That would have to be enough.

She would make it be enough.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Present..._

It was just a section of beach. It wasn't special in any way. In fact, it was _less_ special than other parts north and south because this place wasn't really good for swimming or tanning. People came sometimes to picnic, but there were too many rocks for this area to be considered a prime beach location.

And yet, the man who was walking along the beach here was certain that something special _had_ happened.

He knelt down by a fire pit and picked up some of the ashes. They were from a new fire. A new fire in the middle of the winter. Someone had been here recently. He began to investigate the sand around the fire.

After a few minutes, he stood up, frustrated. He _knew_ he was right about this. He knew it, but he had no proof.

He'd get his proof, somehow.

There were selkies out there, and he was going to find them.

No matter what it took.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony still found himself looking at Tim and evaluating what he saw, trying to correlate behaviors with the knowledge that still gave him pause, even after two months of knowing.

His friend was a selkie.

It didn't matter that Tim no longer had a seal skin, that they'd destroyed it, that he'd _never _had a skin as long as Tony had known him. None of that mattered.

What mattered was that, technically, Tim was not human. He was actually a different species...or something. ...and Tony knew he had taken at least one weekend off and gone to the ocean. To be with the seals?

"I can see you staring at me, Tony," Tim said.

Tony flushed.

"Guilty as charged," he said.

Tim smiled and went back to work. Tony couldn't help it. Tim still sounded so normal...so _human_. But he wasn't.

Tony knew he wasn't the only one having some issues with it. Ziva was, as well. So was Jimmy. Abby had finally fully forgiven Tim for threatening her with a gun and she thought it was amazing. In fact, Tim had been forced to ask her to back off a little on asking him questions where anyone could hear.

What Gibbs thought about it, no one knew because he wasn't speaking. He seemed to treat Tim the same as ever. If Ducky's perception of Tim had changed at all, he was simply a little more protective of Tim than he had been. That wasn't a big deal to Tim...at least, it didn't seem to be.

"You're still staring at me, Tony," Tim said without looking up from his monitor.

"Sorry, Probie."

Tim looked up and raised a questioning eyebrow. Tony just shrugged and started working himself. He tried to remind himself that Tim was really no different than he had been before. It's just that Tony knew about it now.

He knew that his friend was a selkie.

Gibbs came striding into the bullpen, looked at everyone and then gestured to Tim.

"McGee. Let's go. Ducky has something. Tony, Ziva..."

"Check with Abby, yes, Gibbs," Ziva said.

Tim got up and followed Gibbs to the elevator, leaving Tony and Ziva behind.

"How much longer do you think Gibbs is going to pretend Tim is really on probation?" Tony asked.

Ziva shrugged. "I do not think he is pretending. I think Tim really is."

They headed down to Abby's lab.

"Why?"

"Because I think Gibbs is unsure of Tim and how he will react...now that he knows."

They were careful not to say _what_ they all knew when they were in public. It was risky.

"He doesn't treat Tim any differently."

"Yes, he does. Tim has not gone anywhere with us since he came back to work. He is always with Gibbs. He has been involved with the investigations, but Tim is always doing his work with Gibbs. Never with you or me."

Tony thought back and realized that Ziva was right. Whether they were in the building or out in the field, Tim was always given tasks with Gibbs. He never worked alone and he never worked only with Tony or Ziva.

"You're right."

"And I think this will last as long as he is unsure, but that will probably be less than the six months Tim is officially on probation."

Tony smiled.

"Yeah...but other people in the building are still unsure of him," he said. "He gets a lot of side glances now."

"Those will fade. You have heard the scuttlebutt."

"Yeah. Everyone has."

In spite of their best efforts, it had been impossible to keep everyone from finding out that Tim had drawn a gun on both Abby and Jimmy. The reasons for it weren't known, and it was also known that both Abby and Jimmy had forgiven Tim for it, but the fact that mild-mannered Tim McGee had done something so out of character was cause for people to be a little worried.

"Do you think there is some way that we could fix that?" Ziva asked.

"I doubt it. The more we talk about it, the more people will keep thinking about it."

"I guess so. I wish he had thought a little more about what this would do."

Tony chuckled a little. "He did. He thought that, if it worked, he could stay. If it didn't work, he'd be leaving."

Ziva rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. Tim is smarter than that."

"I don't know, Ziva... You didn't see him that morning. He was barely holding it together. I don't think he _could_ think any more about it than just planning it out and getting it done."

The elevator opened and they headed for the lab.

"I have to admit that I find this all very strange," Ziva said.

"Yeah, so do I. The only one who doesn't seem to is Abby."

Ziva laughed. "She finds it strange, but strange to Abby is wonderful."

Tony laughed, too. "Definitely."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim followed Gibbs, silently. He knew that everyone was still uncertain about knowing what he was. He also knew that his actions two months ago had left most of the people in headquarters wondering what was wrong with him. No one had said anything since it was clear that he wasn't getting away with it, but people had been avoiding him...and then, staring at him when they thought he didn't notice.

_I should have known what I was doing,_ he thought.

"Did you see them?" Gibbs asked, suddenly.

Tim didn't need to ask what he meant.

"No. I didn't. I made the decision and it would be dangerous for them to come where I might be. At least, for now. I don't expect them."

"So you don't miss it?"

Tim swallowed hard and didn't answer.

"You can, you know."

Tim shrugged and said nothing.

"Tim."

"I'm...fine, Boss. Everything is fine."

"Everything?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I'm not missing them. I'm not bothered by everyone staring at me and wondering if I'm crazy. I'm not bugged that Tony and Ziva don't know how to think about me. I don't mind that you don't trust me. I don't mind that Abby thinks of me as a potential lab experiment. I don't mind that Jimmy still can't accept that I threatened to shoot him. I don't mind that Ducky still thinks I need protecting. Everything is _fine_!"

Gibbs raised an eyebrow. Tim stopped walking and stared at the floor.

"I trust you," Gibbs said.

"No, you don't. I really am on probation. I know it. You know it. Everyone does. I just... I thought that...after two months, maybe things would go back to normal, but they're not."

"Did you really think that it would only take two months for everyone to adjust?"

"I'm afraid that you won't," Tim said, finally. "I'm afraid that...that I've given up one world and I'm still going to lose the other...and that's going to leave me...alone." He looked up. "I can't go back, Boss. There is _no_ way that I can go back. I really gave it up completely to stay here, and what if..."

"You're not going to lose this world, Tim. You just have to accept that it's going to take time for everyone to adjust to what we now know about you."

"But I haven't changed! I'm still the same person I was!"

"No, you're not. You've changed because of what you had to do. It's going to take time."

Tim looked at the ground again.

"You are on probation, but that's because we _all_ need to see how it's going to fall out. It's not because I don't trust you, anymore."

Tim wasn't sure he believed Gibbs...in part, because what he'd done to stay was deserving of suspicion. He didn't blame anyone for what they thought of him. He didn't like it, but he didn't blame them.

"It'll get better, Tim."

Tim nodded and followed Gibbs into Autopsy.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim got out of the building pretty quickly at the end of the day, as he usually did. This time, however, Tony wanted to catch up.

"Tim! Wait up!"

Tim turned back to him and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Tony jogged over to where Tim was waiting.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For staring at you, today."

"It's fine," Tim said.

"No, it isn't. It's just that..."

"That you still think it's weird. It's fine."

"No!" Tony said. "It's not fine, and I know it. I'm working on it, and I'm going to do better. It's just remembering that you're still the same person you were."

"Am I, though?" Tim asked. "Am I really the same person? Gibbs doesn't think so. He thinks I've changed."

"Well, I guess you have a little bit, but I don't think you're really very different."

"People still stare, you know," Tim said. "I've noticed. I don't blame them...but I wish they wouldn't."

"They'll stop, eventually."

"Yeah."

"Hey, you want to go and get something for dinner? You've been kind of avoiding hanging out the last little while. I get it, but, hey, you wanted to stay here because you liked working with us, right?"

Tim smiled a little. "Yeah."

"Then, part of that is hanging out after work, right?"

Tim's smile widened. "Is it?"

Tony laughed. "It is."

"Okay. Sure."

"Good. Let's go."

Tony thumped Tim on the back and urged him to walk forward. He could see that, if the team was still uncertain about how to think about Tim's background, Tim himself was still unsure about how to react to the fact that they knew.

Something like hanging out would probably help more than all the talking in the world.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Two hours later, Tim finally managed to get home. He took Jethro out as quickly as he could and then sat down on his bed, thinking about what had happened.

He was still a little off-balance from the destruction of his seal skin. He hadn't thought it would have any effect on him beyond making it easier to deal with life on land. It had, but this was one of those situations where he didn't notice it until it was gone. He didn't know how long it would take to adjust to it, but he hadn't told anyone about that strange sensation.

...mostly because he didn't want to remind them again about the fact that he was a selkie.

His phone rang.

Surprised, he sat up and looked at the display. Then, he answered.

"Hi, Mom," he said.

"_Tim, how are things going?"_

"Okay."

"_What's going on?"_

"Ever since...a couple of months ago, when I fell apart..." Tim stumbled over explaining what had happened, given that his family didn't believe that he was a selkie. They knew that there was something about him that was different, but they weren't willing to go that far.

"_Still feeling it?"_

"Not exactly. What I did...people haven't forgotten it, yet."

"_You shouldn't expect them to."_

"I don't. It doesn't make it any easier."

"_Tim, you've seemed...a little distant, adrift. Is there something else?"_

Tim took a breath. He hesitated about talking to his adoptive mother about what was in his mind. He wasn't sure how she would take it, and the last thing he wanted was to cause her pain. He was attuned to the feelings of his family, and he knew when he hurt them.

"_Tell me."_

"I...I've started wondering if I should..."

"_What?"_

"Look for my...my birth mother."

"_Do you really not remember her? I've always had the feeling that you know more about your childhood than you've told us."_

Tim swallowed. "I don't remember her at all. From what I do know, I haven't seen her since I was a baby."

"_Tim, I'm not going to ask you to tell me what you've never told us before, but is this what you really want or is it something that you think you _should_ want?"_

"No, it's...it's what I want, but..."

"_But what?"_

"I don't want to hurt you."

There was a soft laugh.

"_Tim, I don't want you to worry about that. I know you have for the entire time that you've been with us. If you want to find your family, do it. And I hope it turns out wonderfully for you. If it does, I'd like to meet her. If not, I'd better not meet her."_

Tim laughed a little.

"Okay."

"_Where are you going to start?"_

"I have no idea. North. That's all. North and by the sea. That's all I know."

"_Always the sea."_

"Yeah."

"_Tim, we love you. If this will help, then, do it."_

"Thanks."

Tim hung up and lay back. He really had no idea of where to go for this. It wasn't like he could just take off, either. But the next weekend was supposed to be the team's weekend off. He could go north and see if he could find some sign.

Maybe this would give him back the balance he'd lost.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The seals had chosen an isolated beach. That was good. It wasn't that they _had_ to take their human forms. They chose to remain in their seal form most of the time, but because they were both, the selkies felt the need to take both forms on occasion.

A few separated from the seal herd and removed their seal skins. They sat together on the sand, choosing to look as though they were simply a group of humans taking some time off.

"There is a human looking for us," one said.

There was a long silence and eyes shifted to the one who had let the skinless selkie go back to his human life.

"It was not him," he said. "He has told no one."

"The other humans with him know. Can they be trusted not to speak of it?"

"Yes. They care about him. They do not want anything to happen to him. Thus, they will keep it a secret."

"Then, how does this man know?"

He cocked his head to the side. "How does any human know? The tales are there. Some choose to believe that they are true...or that there is truth contained in them. It does not take anything special for them to know."

"Why does he look for us?"

"How do you know he is?"

The one who had lost his skin stirred. He had not yet recovered from the theft. He still had anger and fear...and the overwhelming sense of loss. Those would fade with time, but they had not yet.

"I have seen him in places we have been. There are differences in humans if you learn to see them. I learned. I followed him and listened to him. He is obsessed with finding selkies. He is looking for us, and he does not have a good feeling to him. I felt him before my return. He is dangerous and he is trying to find us. His emotions are unstable, extreme."

The one who had been born on land dug his toes into the sand. He always did that in his human form. He seemed to cherish his time in his human form more than other selkies.

"Like the one who bore me?" he asked.

"No. Not so wild. His are different. I cannot give them words."

"What do we do? If we are not careful, we could be found. The more who know, the more danger we risk of being seen by those who would attack us, kill us, imprison us."

The one who had sired the skinless selkie considered. There was no official leader of their herd, but he had an uncanny knack for avoiding those places the humans came. He also had a very strong ability to sense what humans felt. That put him in a position of authority.

"I know it is not done, but what if I asked for help?"

"The skinless one?"

"Yes."

"How will he know?"

"He has come to the ocean many times, looking for the seals."

"You have spoken–?"

"No." That was almost a lie. He _had_ spoken to the skinless selkie once, but only that one time and since then, he had not. However, he did keep watch over him because he had been asked to do so. Selkies did not forget.

"Would he help us now?"

"Yes. If he could."

"He is south."

"Yes."

"The seals are not ready to move south yet. It would be strange if we asked them to."

"I am willing to go alone. In this shape."

There was some silent consternation at the idea. It wasn't that they'd never done so before or that there was a rule against it. It was just that few were willing to do that. They spent their lives with the herd. To be alone...

"If I remained in this form, I would draw no attention. I am just another human."

The one who had been without his skin shook his head.

"You should not go alone. I will come with you. I can describe this human man in more detail than you will be able to do."

He nodded. It was true. While he had made some effort to discern human differences, he did not excel at it. There had never been any need. He knew the one who was called his son, the skinless selkie. He would probably know the others who were with him. Otherwise, human beings were a wash of life to him, a changing backdrop behind the life he lived.

"That would be good. We will leave in the morning. We should have clothes that are not the same. Humans do not wear matching clothing."

"Yes. We will do that."

Decision made, they all went to the ocean, pulling on their seal skins as they did, until only the two of them remained.

"You wish to see this skinless one. It is not just for help that you go."

"It is true. I made a promise long ago that I would not leave him alone, that I would not leave him only to the herd. His herd has changed, but the promise has not. I cannot change the promise, but I will keep the laws of the herd."

"Good. As will I."

"You also wish to go for other reasons?"

"To thank him. It is something I learned among the humans. A good thing in the midst of the awful things. Gratitude is supposed to be expressed. They do not know it, otherwise. Since he has lived so long among them, he will be accustomed to that. He gave me my skin. I am grateful."

The ulterior motives of both now known, they returned to the sea.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Boss, I was thinking of taking some time...not more than we have off for the weekend, but if I did, I'd be farther away than I could travel to get back if there's a case. Is that all right?"

Gibbs raised a silent eyebrow. Tim looked uncertain, but that was, unfortunately, par for the course up to now.

"I'm going to see if I can find my mother. I probably wouldn't find her this weekend, but I want to make a start if I can."

"Where?"

"North."

The eyebrow went up higher.

"I really don't know. My...father didn't remember where, only that it was north."

"That could be a lot of places."

"I know, but I have to start somewhere. I can't...just wish for it, hope it will happen. I have to try."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want to know where I come from. Who I come from. I only know one side. I don't know the other, but she gave me up to keep me safe."

"You're going alone?"

"I was planning on it."

Gibbs shook his head.

"You shouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Safer with company."

Tim looked a bit affronted.

"I'm not going to be doing anything dangerous. I'm going to be looking in archives, walking on beaches. It's not..."

"You never know."

"No, but that doesn't mean it's at all likely that..."

"Have you already forgotten why you're here at all? Doesn't that story mean anything to you?"

"Which one? Why I'm here or why I'm still having trouble here?"

That was a convoluted way of asking the question, but since they were standing in the bullpen, there wasn't any discreet way of asking questions about Tim's selkie status.

"Either."

"It does matter to me, but am I really supposed to live the rest of my life worried about it?" Tim asked. "Boss, I've been going to the ocean every day off I've had. Every single one."

Gibbs blinked in surprise.

"Yeah. I'm fine...at least as far as that is concerned."

"You should still have someone with you."

Tim's expression changed and he seemed really bothered. "Boss, I wasn't asking you for advice. I was just letting you know what I was planning and asking whether or not that would be a problem...with work."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow at him, and Tim instantly looked like he felt bad about what he said. Gibbs knew, more or less, what Tim was thinking, i.e. that he had just mouthed off to one of the people who had stuck their necks out for him and now he felt guilty about it. Tim dropped his eyes to the floor. He knew how much he owed to his team and he felt that debt far too keenly.

"Sorry, Boss," he said, almost whispering.

Gibbs sighed and got to his feet. He gestured to the elevator. They needed a real conversation, not one full of evasions and talking around things they couldn't say. Tim had been different in the last little while, and he was starting to see that there was more to it than just discomfort with his friends knowing what he was. He gestured again and Tim followed meekly.

They got on and then, Gibbs stopped the elevator.

"What's going on, Tim?"

"I'm sorry."

"I don't care about that. If that's the worst mouthing off you ever do, you'll be fine. There's something more going on here than you're telling me."

Tim shook his head, but he wouldn't look up, a clear sign that he was lying.

"Tim, what's up? You can't keep holding this back, whatever it is."

"I'm just...not...used to it, yet."

"Used to what?"

"Not having my skin."

Gibbs furrowed his brow. "What do you mean? You didn't have it for years. Half your life, according to what you told us."

"But it still existed. I just didn't have it. It was out there. It was a part of me. It was there. Now, it doesn't exist. It's gone. I just feel...off. I'm not quite right. I can't...balance."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"I didn't want to remind you of what I am. It's hard enough with you knowing at all without telling you all the time that I'm a different species. I get enough strange looks."

"Tim, you need to get over that. We know and we can't _not_ know it."

"I know that." Tim looked at him and then looked away. "Sometimes, I think that I made a mistake in letting you know. I worry that it was a terrible decision, that if I'd been able to think more clearly, I would have done something else. I don't know what, but I would have and you wouldn't have had to know what I am."

"Why does it bother you so much?"

"Because I'm a selkie, Boss!" Tim said. It was about the first time he'd said it clearly and plainly. "I'm something that humans don't believe exists and if they did realize it, they would turn me into a lab experiment...like Abby wants to, only less nice. I'm afraid of that happening, and I _know _you guys wouldn't. I do know that, but one of the laws of the selkies is that you never tell. Ever. I'm lucky that I didn't go back, anyway. If I had told and then tried to go back... There's only one punishment."

Gibbs raised his eyebrow in surprise. Tim wasn't kidding, and he supposed that he should have realized. The whole reason this had begun was because the selkies had killed the woman who had stolen Tim's skin all those years ago. There was a ruthlessness about them that, sometimes, made Gibbs wonder if they were good or bad. And yet, there was also a straightforwardness that he appreciated. They had done what was necessary, no more, no less. They lived a life that depended upon no one knowing they existed, and it must be somewhat stressful to deal with that day after day. It was really no wonder that they had those laws.

"So why didn't that happen to you?"

"Because I can't go back...and because my...father...must have intervened."

"Father?"

"Yes. The selkie who killed her, the one you spoke to. He's my father."

"You never mentioned that."

"I know."

"When did he tell you?"

"About a month ago."

"And now, you want to find your human mother."

"It's part of what I am. She gave me up to keep me safe. My father doesn't remember where she was, only that it was north. We _feel_ people more than we see them."

"Feel?"

"Humans talk about ESP. It's not exactly right. I can't read minds. I make...connections, but I can't explain it. It's how we find those who are needing us. He found her, and he said that she knew what he was."

"How?"

"I don't know, but she did, and she knew what I was when I was born. I don't know what she'll say, if I find her. It's been more than 30 years. That's a long time. Maybe she doesn't want to remember that she had a selkie for a son...but I need to know. Good or bad, I need to know, just to help me balance my life, again."

"Alone."

"At least, for now. Boss, I need to make a start, and I don't what that start will be. I don't know how long this will take. I just know that I need to do it...and right now, I don't need people questioning what I do, how I do it, what I am, why I am...I just need to start."

Gibbs had to admit that he really didn't have any experience with this kind of thing. He didn't know if Tim was right, but he could see that Tim wanted to reclaim some privacy in the midst of baring his whole soul to his friends. Still, he didn't like the idea of Tim going off on this quest alone. He wasn't sure why, but his gut told him that it was a bad idea.

"Okay," he said. "For now, I'll support you going alone, but you _tell_ us if something happens that you don't expect."

Tim raised an eyebrow that was as eloquent as Gibbs'.

"You don't have to give details if you don't want to, but if something goes wrong... don't deal with it alone."

Tim nodded.

"Okay, Boss."

"Good."

Gibbs started the elevator going again, and he could see that Tim was relieved. He himself didn't feel that way. He just had a feeling that Tim was on his way to opening another big can of worms.

A dangerous can of worms.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Tim drove north. As he'd told Gibbs, he had no idea of where to start. He was going to pick places near the ocean where he could look at local archives, birth certificates for boys born to single mothers. He didn't think it was likely that there were a _lot_ of them when he had been born...whatever year that had been. He still had no idea exactly when he'd been born. That made things harder because his time growing up with the selkies had been just a wash of events. He couldn't attach a length of time to it, but he would start with the guesses his family had made and work outward from there.

First, though, he went to the beach and sat down in the sand, watching the waves roll in and out. Part of him still ached for that life he'd permanently removed himself from. He could never get back to that feeling of swimming in the ocean, feeling the water rush by him, the exhilaration of leaping around in the surf... of being a part of that world. He was separated from it forever and, sometimes, he did wonder if he'd made a mistake in not going back when he'd had the chance.

Then, he thought of his friends, his family...and he couldn't have given them up. He'd made the best he could out of a no-win situation.

But still...

"May we sit?"

The voice was familiar, but more than that, Tim _felt_ the presence of the two men standing behind him, the two selkies. He turned.

"Yes," he said, not bothering to hide his surprise.

They both sat down beside him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, looking at his father. "I never... I didn't think that I'd ever see you again. The law says that..."

"It is a special situation," his father said.

Tim looked at the other selkie.

"I'm glad you could go back."

"As am I," he said shortly.

Tim nodded.

"Why are you both here?" he asked again.

"Because we need your help...if you can give it."

"_My_ help?" Tim repeated. "What could I possibly help you with?"

The two selkies looked at each other and then nodded.

"There is a man."

Tim shook his head a little bit and lowered his voice. There was no one nearby, but why invite trouble?

"I can't help you kill someone," he said, softly. "It just wouldn't feel right."

His father smiled. "That is not what I asked. We do not need help for that."

Tim smiled weakly. While he understood the reasons and even agreed with them to some degree (to a larger degree than he'd like to admit, actually), he still found it a little off-putting to know that they had killed the woman who had stolen his skin.

"Yeah, I know. Then, what is it?"

The other selkie took over. "Over the last while, there has been a man watching the seals very closely. It has been difficult to find solitary spaces."

"A lot of people watch seals. They like them."

"Not this way. This man is not watching for enjoyment. He is searching. We do not know why."

"Are you sure it's you? And not the seals themselves? Humans have passed laws protecting the seals, but some resent that protection."

"It is not the seals for the seals. It is for us."

"And you want me to find out why he's looking for you?"

"Yes. If it is possible. We would like to know if he is as dangerous as he seems to be."

"I'm surprised you're asking," Tim said, frankly. "This isn't normal."

His father smiled. "It is not normal for us to know of a human who could help in this way."

"Point taken. I'll do what I can, of course, but... I'll need a really good description."

"I have noticed him," the other selkie said. "I will tell you."

"Okay." Tim opened his bag and got out a notebook so that he could take notes. "Go for it."

"He is tall. Not extremely so. He is shorter than we are in our human forms." The selkie paused for a few seconds and considered. "His eyes would reach your chin."

Tim wrote that down, thinking that this would likely be the most interesting description he'd ever recorded.

"His eyes are not dark. They are light, like the ice that floats beneath the water."

"Light blue?"

"Like ice."

"Okay."

"His nose is pointed, sharp. Not large, but small. He has a pinched mouth with lines around it. A little bit of hair grows around his mouth, but not like us. Short and dark."

Tim suppressed a smile at the description of what sounded like a goatee.

"He has dark hair on the top of his head, too. Like that of the man with you that night."

Only Tony had dark hair of those who had been there.

"The same style?" he asked.

The selkie's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Did it look exactly the same or was it just the color?"

"Not exactly the same, but it was much the same length. The color was the same."

Tim nodded.

"Anything else?"

"Yes. He has two dark spots on the side of his face, by his ear."

"Which side?" Tim asked. "Right or left?"

"Right."

"Can you show me on your face where they are?"

The selkie thought and then pointed. Tim did a quick sketch and placed the spots where he'd been shown.

"Where was this man?"

"North."

That same issue. North. Always north. They had no need for naming locations. They knew the beaches when they saw them. Why give a name to something everyone knows?

"Do you know any of the human names for the places you've seen him?"

"Where I was once. It was called Massachusetts. I saw him there once, but I have seen him other places. I do not know the human names for them."

A state. Well, that was a place to start and he could easily eliminate most of the state and focus on the coastal areas.

"Near the sea."

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll do my best, but I can't guarantee that I'll find anything."

"We do not ask for that," his father said. "Help is what we ask for. Nothing more."

"Okay. How will I tell you if I found anything?"

"If it is safe, you can touch me as you did that night."

Tim nodded. He hadn't tried it since the destruction of his skin. He didn't know how that would feel, but he just agreed.

"All right. Is there anything else?"

"Yes." The other selkie rose to his knees and looked strangely earnest. "I wish to express thanks for what you returned to me. It is my life returned."

Tim was more surprised than he'd admit. "You're welcome."

"Humans express gratitude. You live with them, now. I needed to do it."

Tim smiled. In a human, that explanation would make the gratitude seem insincere, but for selkies, there was no need to express what all knew. So the fact that he was saying it at all meant a lot, gave it a depth it would be lacking otherwise.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad that you could go back."

The selkie looked as though he wanted to ask a question, but he didn't. Instead, he got to his feet and walked toward the ocean, leaving Tim with his father.

"How do you feel?" his father asked.

"Not quite right."

"Because of your skin?"

"Yes. I was so relieved to not feel the pain of its destruction that I didn't notice. ...but I feel its...lack. I feel where it should be and isn't. It's harder than I thought it would be."

The selkie nodded.

"No one could know this thing you have done. No one else has done it. Those who lost their skins died."

"Yeah." Tim took a breath. "I don't know if I could recommend it."

"It is a last resort, not a first. You treated it as such."

"I did."

"Do you regret it?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes, I do. Sometimes, I feel it was the best option, no matter how hard it is."

"I would be surprised if you felt otherwise."

Tim nodded. Then, he looked out at the ocean. "I'm looking for my mother."

"Why?"

"To help me find balance."

"She will help you find balance?"

"Yes. I think so. Do you think she'll want to see me?"

"That I cannot say. If she is as she was, then, yes. It has been a long time, though. No one stays the same... not human or selkie."

"Yeah." Tim looked at his father. "Where she was, was it further north than this place?"

"Yes."

"Further north than where the seals are now?"

The selkie thought about it.

"She might have been near where they are now. Not exactly. It is not the same beach, and she may not have stayed there."

"That's someplace to start, anyway. Next weekend. I'll take this description to work and see what I can find without being too obvious about it."

The selkie nodded and started to stand.

"Wait," Tim said.

"Yes?"

"Why did you two come? Why not anyone else?"

"Few are willing to leave for so long. It feels too dangerous to be apart from the herd. The other who came back to us felt a need."

"And you?"

"I made a promise, and I must keep that promise while still obeying the laws."

"A promise? Not to me."

"No. Not to you. To the one you call your mother."

Tim furrowed his brow. "What promise?"

"To watch you and care for you as needed. That promise does not change, no matter where you might be. Now, it will be harder than it was, but that also does not change the promise. It must be kept, and that is known."

"She asked that of you?"

"Yes. When she brought you to the sea, it was what she asked. You would have been cared for by all. That is how the herd works, but she asked me to do that. I agreed, and I will not break that promise. I have not ever broken that promise."

"What about when I had to leave the herd?" Tim asked.

"Do you think that you were able to find us simply because of coincidence?"

Tim was surprised. He hadn't ever thought about why he was able to swim with the seals as often as he had. He raised an eyebrow in a silent question.

"It is easy to convince the seals to stop places without telling them why. They do not care about why. As long as the beach is a good place for them, they will stop. As you say, they are protected. It was not always our herd that you saw, but it was often. I was able to ask the seals about you."

"I never even thought about it."

"Why should you? You know the laws. As do I."

"But you're breaking them."

"No. I never sought you out."

Tim smiled. That was quibbling, but he didn't care. It was a nice surprise that he'd been watched more closely than he'd ever expected, that he'd been cared for, even when he'd felt abandoned. The selkie got to his feet and Tim noticed how easily he moved. He had clearly been in his human form for an extended period and had fully adjusted to it. Tim got up as well.

"I'll see what I can do," he said.

"I know you will." He turned and gestured to the other selkie. Then, he walked away without a backward glance.

Tim watched the two of them go. There was a part of him that cried out to follow them, to go back to the sea with them, but it wasn't as powerful as it had been before.

Still, Tim wondered if he could find some seals. If not, maybe he'd swim in the ocean anyway. It had been a little while since he'd done that.

He took a deep breath and walked away from the beach.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It was a beach at night. Not many people around.

That was all right. He didn't care about the people.

He cared about the seals.

There they were.

He kept himself out of sight and waited.

As the seals came onto the beach, there was something else with them.

A man came out of the ocean, almost staggering onto the sand. He knelt down and the seals frolicked around him until he got back to his feet. He walked up the beach, clad only in what looked like boxers.

The watcher crept out of his hiding place and started back to his car, in the hopes of following the man he'd seen. Here was the one who swam with the seals. If anyone could lead him to the selkies, he was sure this man could. He had a connection to this other world and that should be used.

It would be.

Suddenly, there was a chorus of sounds from the seals on the beach. The man stopped and looked around. Then, he sprinted toward his car, got in and sped away before the watcher could catch up.

Cursing silently, he headed back to his car without any attempt at stealth.

He'd find the man who swam with the seals. Somehow, he'd find him and that man would lead him to the selkies. He'd get his proof, and then, the laughter, the scorn, the rejection would be gone.

He was getting so close now. He knew he was and he would not be stopped.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Tim wasn't sure about doing this, but there was no question that Abby was better at this stuff than he was. It was just that he knew she was going to want to grill him some more, and he didn't really enjoy that.

Well, it wouldn't go away for wishing.

Tim walked into the lab. It was early in the morning, well before they were supposed to be at work, but Abby tended to get there early most days. So he felt that this was the best time to talk to her.

He looked around the lab.

"Abby?"

No reply. It was quiet and dark. He must have beat her here. Tim sat down on a stool to wait. While he sat, he let his mind wander over his past, over the way things had been before life on land had complicated his whole perception. ...but even as a normal selkie, he had felt a little different. From the perspective he had now, Tim could see that he'd felt emotions before losing his skin. He had felt anger, frustration, fear. Knowing that his father had taken the time to watch over him also opened up a new view of his younger years. His father had almost always been the selkie who taught him, who lectured him when needed, who comforted him when he had felt that fear that had not been normal for the other selkies. Tim had just never thought about it before. The differences had never been pointed out. They were just a part of him to the degree that he hadn't even noticed.

The doors opened.

"Tim! You're here early!" Abby said happily.

She hurried over and hugged him.

"I need a favor, Abbs," Tim said.

Abby pulled back and looked all too eager.

"Would that favor necessitate repayment?"

Tim sighed. "I'm sure it will."

"Yes!" Abby started dancing. "I knew I'd get something, sometime."

"What do you want, Abby?"

"I want to run your DNA, Tim!"

"It has to be mostly human, you know. If it wasn't, I wouldn't look like I do."

"I _know_ that, but there has to be something in your genetic code that allows for...you changing. I know I can't test the other part, but that trigger has to be in there somewhere, right?"

"I guess."

"Of course, right!"

"Abby, if you do this..."

"Tim! If?"

Tim held back an exasperated smile. It was still a game to her, rather than his life. He preferred that to her feeling of betrayal when he had threatened her, but still...

"Abby, you can't let anyone see the results, especially if you're right about that. If that got out..."

"I know," Abby said, finally looking a little bit serious. "I know, but I can process it here, and I swear that I won't send it anywhere else. I'll keep it to myself."

"Okay. Then, I'll let you run my DNA."

"Good! Now, what do you need?"

"I need you to make up a sketch based on a description I was given. It's a weird description and I can't give you anything more than I have."

"Interesting. Why do you need it?"

Tim hesitated. He wasn't sure he wanted to share any of the details right now, but Abby got so insistent about this kind of thing.

"For now, can I keep that to myself?"

"Why?"

"Just let me keep it to myself until I know more. I promise that if something comes of it, I'll let you know."

"Well...since you're letting me run your DNA, okay. And I'm guessing you don't want me sharing the sketch around the building, either?"

"That would be preferable, yes."

"Okay. DNA swab, first."

Tim smiled. "Thanks, Abby."

"For what?"

"For not trying to do this without my permission. I could see you rifling through my stuff trying to find a stray hair or something just so you could run my DNA, but you didn't, and I appreciate it."

"Do you really think I'd do that?"

Tim raised an eyebrow, and Abby grinned.

"Okay, I would, but I didn't. I promise."

"I know, and thank you."

Abby kissed his cheek. "You're welcome. Now, give."

Tim let her take a DNA sample and tried to wait patiently as she started it running. He knew she wouldn't be able to think about anything else until she started it. Then, he pulled out the description the selkie had given him. He handed it over to her. Abby looked through the description and then looked up.

"What kind of description is this? The wording is so weird."

"I know. I only ask that you do your best. If you can't get anything from it, I'll understand."

"Now, that's going too far. I'm a miracle worker, Tim! I'll figure something out." Abby looked at the description again and then she smiled. "Just wait right here."

She ran into her office, leaving Tim to stare after her in confusion. She was back in under a minute with a tape measure.

"Okay. Stand straight and tall, Tim."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm figuring out how tall your chin is. So I can add a couple more inches to go from the eyes to the top of the head. Hold still."

Tim did as ordered and waited for Abby to finish measuring him.

"Are you sure you can't tell me what this is about?"

"Not right now. When I know more, I'll tell you."

"Okay. I'll wait. Do you want to wait down here while I work on it?"

Tim grimaced. "Yes, but I'd better not. I don't want to be late. I'll check back tonight, okay?"

He started for the door, but Abby grabbed his arm.

"What is it, Abbs?"

"Tim, are you okay? I mean, _really_ okay?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because...sometimes, when you don't think anyone is looking at you...you seem a little...lost, sad."

Tim smiled. It amazed him how Abby could notice so much and yet see so little at the same time. He covered her hand with his.

"If you had asked me if I'm great, I would have said no, but I _am_ okay. As everyone keeps telling me, it will take time. I can't rush it, even though I want to."

"But...will you be great?"

"I hope so, but I don't know. Abby, what I did is something no one else has done. There's no guidebook on how this will go. No one I can ask about it. I just have to feel my way through and hope for the best."

Abby hugged him tightly.

"I hope for the best, too."

"Thanks. Now, I really should get upstairs before I'm late."

"Okay."

Abby let him go and Tim left the lab. As he headed up to the bullpen, he couldn't help but think about what he'd said. He did hope for the best, but sometimes, he wondered if he'd ever find that balance...or if he'd find it before getting himself into trouble. Someone had almost seen him on Sunday night. If the seals hadn't got his attention, he might not have noticed the person coming up the beach. Since no journalists had come knocking at his door, Tim figured that he must have been successful in eluding the possible witness to his nighttime swim.

The elevator doors opened and Tim headed for his desk.

He could only hope that he'd been successful.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Agent McGee, could you come to my office, please?"

Tim looked up in surprise at Vance.

"Uh...yes, of course, Director Vance," Tim said. He glanced over at Gibbs who just raised an eyebrow.

"Good."

Tim swallowed hard. He hadn't been required to speak to Vance at all since what had happened. He knew that Gibbs had done so and had made it possible for Tim to keep his job, but he had no idea what Vance actually thought of all this. Tony and Ziva were out in the field while Tim had been doing some digging through records.

Vance was waiting for him. So Tim stood quickly and followed him up the stairs. He could feel other eyes on him, as had been the case almost constantly for the last two months.

They walked into Vance's office.

"Have a seat, Agent McGee," Vance said, gesturing to the table.

"Yes, sir," Tim said and sat.

He couldn't deny that he was extremely nervous about meeting with Vance. He had ultimate authority over Tim, and if this was going to be a probing meeting where Vance tried to get at the truth of Tim's meltdown, this could end with Tim losing his job. He sat with his hands in his lap and stared at the table.

"Agent McGee," Vance said as he sat down.

Tim looked up and thought he might have caught a fleeting smile, but he couldn't be sure.

"Yes, sir?"

"Do you think you're in trouble?"

"I don't know. Am I?"

Now, Vance did smile.

"No, you're not."

"Thank you, sir."

"Because of the situation regarding your return to probationary status, I wanted to meet with you and see how you felt things were going."

"They're...fine, sir...I think. It's not back to normal, but it's only been two months."

"You feel all right?"

Ah, worries about his sanity. _That_ was something Tim could live with.

"Yes, sir. I do."

"No recurring problems?"

"No, sir."

"Agent Gibbs told me that your problems were related to your family history."

The understatement of the century, but Tim nodded mutely.

"And yet, there was nothing in your records indicating a troubled childhood."

"Yes, sir. I lied."

"No problems admitting that?" Vance asked.

"Well, sir...you already know about it. If I tried to deny it now, it would just be lying again."

"Why lie about it in the first place?"

Tim now hesitated for another reason. His adoptive parents had done a lot for him, and the last thing he wanted was to get either of them in trouble for the times when they had fudged things to make it easier for him.

"Agent McGee."

"Sir...my parents did a lot for me. I don't want them to...have more problems than I gave them when I was young."

"I'm not going to report this to anyone. You are telling me so that I understand my agent, not so that I can make trouble for your family."

Tim nodded.

"My parents didn't...adopt me, formally. They found me on the beach when I was a teenager, after their son...Tim...had died."

Vance's eyes widened in surprise, but he didn't comment. Tim took a breath and continued. It felt strange talking about this.

"I couldn't tell them who I was. I didn't have a name. So I became their son, Tim. I'd never had any education. They lied about my upbringing and schooling so that I could go to college. They got copies of all my identification forms, birth certificates, social security number, everything, without ever indicating that I was not their son. When I decided to apply to NCIS, I was afraid that all that might come up and keep me from being hired. So I fudged things more to hide all that. My life is so atypical that I didn't think there was any way to adequately address it in a way that would result in my getting a job. I never thought any of this would come up again. I thought that I'd dealt with it and accepted it all. I'm sorry that I was wrong and that it came out in the way it did."

Vance was silent for a few seconds. Then, he leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath.

"Well, Agent McGee, I have to admit that I'm surprised by all this. You never told anyone?"

"No. Not a soul. The only people who knew about it were my parents...and my sister. Agent Gibbs wasn't hiding it from you. He didn't know, either. No one knew and I had planned on keeping it that way."

"Best-laid plans?"

"Yes. Something like that."

Another deep breath.

"I understand why you wanted to keep this a secret. I can even understand, to some degree, why you had the problems you had, but I hope you don't think that your actions were justified."

"No, sir!" Tim said, quickly. "No, I don't."

"Would you change them, now?"

"To be honest...I don't know. I really wasn't thinking clearly. I can't even describe how I was feeling." That much was true, although Tim knew that Vance wouldn't be thinking of that in the same way. "I'd like to think that I would have done something better if I had been in my right mind, but I just can't know with how things fell out...but I do wish I that I hadn't threatened Abby and Jimmy. I still _really_ regret that."

"I understand that Ms. Sciuto has completely forgiven you?"

Tim nodded.

"And that there is still some understandable tension with Mr. Palmer?"

Tim nodded again.

"I hope that will get better," he said.

"As do I."

There was a moment of silence.

"While I understand and appreciate your situation to the extent that it is possible, I hope you aren't under any illusion that your probation is only a formality."

"No, sir!"

"Good, because I am treating this as the serious event it was and you are _definitely_ on probation."

"Gibbs is taking it seriously, too, Director. I haven't been thinking it was anything else."

Vance nodded. "I hope that, at the end of six months, I will feel confident in taking you off probation and letting you resume your former position, but you will have to toe the line."

"I understand. I don't want to lose this job. So much of my life is here, and I don't want to lose that."

Vance seemed surprised, and Tim worried that he'd gone too far, but it was no less than the truth. Except for his family, there was nothing else he had that made his life on land worth living, and since he could no longer have any hope of going back to the sea, he was very afraid of losing what he had.

Vance stood up and Tim did, as well.

"I want you to understand one other thing, Agent McGee. I know that Agent Gibbs, and you, by extension, are hiding something from me. I have no idea what it is, but I know that there is more to what happened two months ago than just your childhood. I'm accepting it because Agent Gibbs has assured me that there is no risk of that happening again and because of your exemplary record. I expect you to appreciate that fact and not to take advantage of the trust I'm putting in Agent Gibbs and in you."

Tim swallowed and nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"I won't ask you why you're keeping this from me, but if something else goes wrong, involving you, you'll find that I'm much less understanding."

"Yes, Director Vance."

"Good. You may go."

Tim nodded and left the office as quickly as he could. It was only when he was out on the balcony that he let out sigh of relief. That had been a tense meeting, but he did appreciate Vance's trust. He was determined not to abuse it.

He went back down to his desk. Gibbs looked at him without asking.

"He wanted to talk to me about what happened, touch base, make sure things were going well."

"And?" Gibbs asked.

"And he's trusting me. I don't want to betray that."

"Good. Back to work."

"Yes, Boss."

Tim smiled a little and looked at his computer.

Back to work.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Abby looked at the description again and again. It was worded just differently enough that it felt strange. Still, she had a composite based on the description and she was now seeing if she could find someone who matched it. There was no telling how long it would take. She stared at the description and thought about what kind of person would give this kind of explanation of what a person looked like.

And why Tim would be looking for this person. She furrowed her brow. Part of her worried that Tim was going to go weird like he had before, but he'd been much more open this time. He had been honest about not wanting to tell her anything right now and he had said he would tell her more later.

She would have to be patient, but she would be the first to admit that patience was _not_ her strong suit.

Tim did still worry her, though. Not for the reasons he had before, but because he just didn't seem back to normal yet. There was a sadness to him that he hadn't shown before. She _hoped_ that it was new and that he hadn't felt that for his whole life, but he just seemed different, and she was sure that it wasn't just because she now knew that he was a selkie.

_Tim is a selkie._

It still boggled her mind that this was possible. She wished, how she wished that she could have been there to see the selkie take off his skin and put it back on again. It was like a fantasy novel and she _wished_ that she could have been part of it.

The doors to the lab opened and she turned, thinking it would be Tim coming to check on her.

It was Jimmy.

"Jimmy, what brings you up here? I didn't think Ducky had anything for me to do."

"He doesn't."

"Okay? Not that I don't love having company, but..."

Jimmy sat down on a stool and looked at her earnestly.

"Have you forgiven Tim for what he did? I mean, _really_ forgiven him?"

"Yes," Abby said, easily.

"How did you do it? Why don't you still feel mad that he threatened you?"

Abby shrugged. "I'm not good at holding grudges...and Tim just isn't someone I can stay mad at. I know why he did it. He told me. I know he feels bad about it. So...it's okay." Abby looked at Jimmy more closely. He seemed uncomfortable. "You haven't?"

"I said I did, and I do, but..." He sighed. "Not really."

"Why?"

"Because I didn't do anything to him and Tim threatened to kill me! Because he did all that because he's..." Jimmy lowered his voice. "...not human. And because I just don't know how to let that go."

"Have you talked to him about it?"

Jimmy shook his head. "No. I haven't really talked to him at all since that. I'm glad that this is working out for him, but..."

"Well...I don't know what to tell you to do," Abby said. "I just...got over it and I don't know how to explain what to do. Maybe you could try talking to him about it. Tim would, if you asked."

Jimmy shrugged.

"Yeah, I know."

Abby smiled and slugged Jimmy lightly on the shoulder.

"If you want to, you can. It will just take time. That's what Tim keeps saying. It's true...but you have to _do_ something, too."

"Yeah, I know." Jimmy stood up. "Thanks for listening."

"My pleasure."

Jimmy left the lab as quickly as he'd come in. Abby watched him go and wrinkled her nose a bit. It was true. She _had_ forgiven Tim pretty easily, especially once she knew the whole story. Tim had become too intriguing and mysterious for her to stay mad at him. That was just the way she was. Jimmy wasn't like that, and Abby knew most people weren't like that.

She wondered if she should say something to Tim about it. She wasn't sure. She guessed that Tim knew Jimmy was still a bit iffy. Since that could describe almost everyone in the building, it shouldn't be a surprise if Jimmy was still feeling that way. Some people had tried to get her to talk about it, tried to see how she felt, but for once, Abby had been able to hold back because she didn't want Tim to suffer for it. She knew that Jimmy had done the same. Still, Tim's behavior had been so out of character that it was still a subject of discussion and that probably wouldn't change any time soon.

There was a ding and Abby turned to her machine, eagerly. It was Tim's DNA results. She was so curious about what she'd find. Even though Tim was a creature from legends, he still had DNA and that meant that something in that DNA should indicate that he was different.

The lab doors opened again. Abby turned around quickly to see if she needed to hide her monitor or not.

"Hi, Abbs. Found anything?" Tim asked.

Abby smiled.

"I just got your DNA results!"

"Oh. That wasn't what I was talking about."

"I know, but come and see what there is to see!"

"Okay."

Tim walked over quickly enough that Abby knew he was, at least, a _little_ interested. She'd set it up to flag any anomalies, anything that veered from the typical human genome. Nice that it had been figured out already. It made this task a lot easier.

"It's too bad that they haven't sequenced seal DNA yet," Abby said. "I'd love to see the comparison."

"Yeah."

She laughed and then brought up the areas that were different. To her surprise, almost all of it was the same.

Almost.

"Wow. Look at this, Tim!"

He leaned over to look and it was like old times with the two of them interested in some research. Even though this was about Tim himself, it was still something that could just be intriguing without causing problems.

She pointed to the major anomaly.

"This is extra! You've got more genes...at least right here in this sequence."

"But everything else is the same...or at least it's basically the same."

"So that means that when you changed, your DNA was changing, too! That's so _cool_! I don't know how that could happen, but it must, and this right here could be what does it. It's acting as some kind of switch. That's definitely not in regular DNA. Tim, you are _so_ cool!"

"That's me. Mr. Cool," Tim said, absently. He leaned in closer to the monitor to get a better look.

"I wish that we could get a DNA sample from one of your friends," she said. "I'll bet that this same sequence would be there and the rest of it would be typical seal DNA."

"You're probably right."

"Can I ask you a question about it?" Abby asked.

Tim looked at her.

"Abby, we didn't learn about this in Intro to Life 101. We don't worry about all that stuff."

Abby laughed, relieved that Tim felt he could make a joke about it.

"No, it's not like that, but it is kind of...personal."

"Oh. Go ahead."

"You sure?"

Tim nodded. "Go ahead."

"How did it feel when you would...change?"

She could see that there was pain associated with that question. Tim looked away from her quickly, but not before she saw it in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said, softly.

"No, it's okay." Tim took a breath and stared at the screen again...not her. "It's been so long. I don't know if I remember how it felt, really...but I didn't feel anything changing, if that's what you mean. It happens instantly. There's no delay. So...if you're right, then, it has to happen instantly, too. Otherwise..." He didn't finish.

Abby hugged Tim quickly and then looked at the screen as well.

"Hmmm... Maybe...Maybe both of the sequences are really there, but we can't see them. Since seals are mammals, there must be a lot in common. Even mice have about 80 percent of the DNA sequences in common with humans. Same with cows. So, it must be similar with seals. But the rest of it...it's different and so there has to be a way."

Abby didn't like it when she didn't understand something. There had to be a scientific explanation for how this worked. There just _had_ to be. If only there was some way of figuring it out.

"Do you think that any of...of them would...?"

Tim laughed humorlessly. "No. Not a chance, Abby. You can forget that right now. It's strange enough that I'm around to give you a sample."

"Okay. ...but you can't stop me from dreaming."

"I know. Believe me. I know." He cleared his throat and then turned away from the screen. "Any success with that picture?"

"Well, I got a composite made from that bizarre description you gave me, but no hits so far. If he's not in the system, he's not in the system."

"I know. I don't _have_ to have results, but I promised that I'd try to get some."

"Promised who?"

Tim hesitated.

"Who, Tim? Who did you promise?"

"Don't tell anyone, okay?" Tim asked.

"Why not?"

"Because...I'm still on probation. I don't want to get in trouble."

"Would you?"

"It's possible," Tim said. "Look at what I've already done."

"Yeah. Jimmy still doesn't know how to think about it."

Tim nodded and looked ashamed. "I know. I can tell every time I've gone into Autopsy. He said he forgave me, but I don't think he really has. I'm trying to stay out of his way until he wants to talk, but I really hate what I did. Jimmy and I haven't really been friends, more like acquaintances, and I don't think that this helped at all."

"He told me that he _wants_ to get over it. He just doesn't know how."

"I don't know how _you_ did. I can hardly blame him for not knowing, either."

Abby patted Tim's cheek.

"It's because you're too interesting to stay mad at, Tim."

Tim groaned and rolled his eyes.

"But you changed the subject. Who asked you for help?"

"The selkies," Tim said, almost in a whisper.

"What?!"

"Sh!"

Abby was flabbergasted. She'd had no idea that Tim was still talking to the selkies.

"I thought you said that they couldn't see you anymore, that...that it wasn't allowed!"

"It isn't, but they had a problem and they got permission to ask me for help."

"Why? Why do they need to find him?"

"They don't. He's looking for _them_, they think, and they don't like how persistent he is. They say that he seems to have bad intentions. They just want to know who he is, why he's looking for them, if I can find anything."

"Tim...the last person who made trouble... they..."

Tim shifted awkwardly. He wasn't comfortable with that part of what happened, either.

"I know. If they were going to do that...they would have already."

"Okay. I can see why you don't want anyone to know. ...but what if he _is_ dangerous? What then?"

"Then, I'll tell Gibbs and ask him what he thinks."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes."

"Do you solemnly swear that you'll tell Gibbs?" Abby asked.

Tim smiled.

"I do."

"Good. Then, I'll keep looking. He may not be in the system."

"I know. I told them that there may not be anything to find. They were fine with that. This is to help if it's possible."

"Okay."

Abby looked at the screen and then back at Tim. There was still that little bit of sadness. She didn't like it.

"Tim, one more thing."

"What?" Tim asked, looking wary.

"Don't worry so much," Abby said with a smile.

She reached up and kissed Tim on the cheek and then hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad you stayed. I would have missed you."

Tim hugged her back.

"Thanks for saying that, Abby. I needed to hear it."

"I'll say it anytime you want me to."

Tim laughed softly. "Thanks."

Then, he pulled away and went back to work. Abby watched him go and then went back to work herself. There was always something to do and so, even though she'd like to play around with the DNA results some more, she would have to put that off until later.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"He had a meeting with Vance today. Do you think that means he's in trouble again?"

"Again or still? I can't believe that Vance didn't rake him over the coals for what he did."

"I can't believe that he didn't get fired or put in prison for threatening Abby and Jimmy. How could they just take that so easily? I'd have punched his lights out, myself."

"It's so weird. Every time I see him, now, I think about what people say he did. Why would he? I just don't get it. I mean, I guess it's none of our business, but still..."

"I think it is. He's here every day. So are we. What if he goes off like that again? It could be one of us getting it next time."

Tim hoped the two speakers would head off on their way soon. He was standing just out of sight and he couldn't get past them without showing himself. He'd heard a few of these conversations in the last couple of months and they still hurt.

Finally, the conversation shifted topics and they went down the hall. Tim sighed and came out of the spot where he'd been hiding. How much longer would that be how people thought of him? He didn't know, but he hated it.

Another sigh and he headed for his desk. There wasn't much left of the day, but he couldn't just do nothing.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony and Ziva headed into NCIS after a very long day of interviews.

"There's got to be something to all this," Tony said. "Five people suggesting that it wouldn't have been unexpected for Ensign Bowler to be involved in something shady either means a conspiracy or he's involved."

"Perhaps Gibbs and Tim have found something more today."

"Yeah, maybe. Personally, I just want to go home and get some sleep."

Then, Ziva looked over toward the Anacostia and noticed someone standing there.

"Tony."

"Yeah?"

"Look over there." She pointed. "Isn't that Tim?"

Tony looked.

"Looks like it. What's he doing out here?"

Ziva gave him a significant look. Instead of heading inside, they headed to where Tim was standing, apparently looking out at the river.

"Tim?"

Tim jumped a little and looked at them.

"Hey. Back from Norfolk, huh?"

"Yeah. Long day. What are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Just...taking a break."

"Now? It's almost time to go home."

"I needed a break. I wasn't hungry, but I didn't want to be in the building. So I came out here for a few minutes. I was about to go back in."

Tim started to walk toward the building.

"Wait, Tim," Ziva said. "Why do you not want to be in the building?"

"No reason. It's not a big deal."

He started to walk again. Tony stopped him this time.

"It's a big enough deal that you're standing out here in the cold."

"It's not that cold."

"You're avoiding the question, Probie."

Tim sighed.

"I heard some people...talking about me, about what I did, wondering if I was going to go off and kill one of them next. I know I should expect it, but I just can't feel all right about people thinking it was possible." Tim looked at them both earnestly. "I know what it looked like. I know that they can't understand because they can't know the truth...but I hate knowing that people are that afraid of me, that they think I'm a potential killer. I hate that!"

"I hate it, too," Ziva said. "I wish there was some way that we could change the way people are thinking."

"I wish you could, too," Tim said. "I wish _I_ could do something, but I can't."

Then, he smiled fakely.

"That's why I was outside."

"Well, come on inside. Let's see if Gibbs will set us free and then, you're coming to get a drink with us," Tony said. "No arguments."

"Okay. I'll see if Abby wants to come, too."

"And Jimmy?" Ziva asked.

Tim shrugged. "I doubt he'll want to."

Unfortunately, that was probably true. Ziva hesitated for a moment and then put an arm around Tim's shoulders, urging him to come with them. They went into the building together, and Ziva kept her arm around Tim. Perhaps sights like this would help others to let go of the attitude Tim had described. She couldn't think of any other way to do it.

Tony had a low conversation with Gibbs and then, they were headed out the door, Abby in tow.

At least, Tim's closest friends still supported him. He definitely was in need of that.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Abby kept the program running all week long without a hit, but it would take time. After all, she reminded herself, how long had it taken to find Ari? And they'd had an actual photo of him. This was a description that could be accurate or not...and it was possible that this man wouldn't have any record, maybe not even a driver's license, depending on where he lived. Being seen once in the state of Massachusetts wasn't exactly narrowing it down much.

Still, she was determined to find something.

It was Friday morning, and as he had every day that week, Tim came in early.

"Any hits yet?" he asked.

"No, I'm sorry," Abby said. "I've got it running constantly, but there's always a chance that he just isn't in any system."

"Or that we didn't get the description exactly right or that this is a person who has some nefarious scheme in mind and has covered his tracks." Tim smiled a bit.

Abby grinned. "Or he's an alien from Mars and we just don't have access to their files."

Tim's smile widened a bit and he extended the silliness. "Or he's slightly out of phase with this existence and so every time we try to look at him, he's already blurred."

"What?"

Tim shrugged. "I don't know. I was running dry of ideas."

Abby laughed. "Or he actually has _three_ dots on his face instead of two and it's screwing up the computer."

"Or he usually wears thick-soled work boots with steel toes and that's messed with his height," Tim said.

"Or the only photo that exists of him was taken upside down."

"Or he got special permission to peek through his fingers in his driver's license photo and so we can't see his face."

They both laughed.

"I will keep it going, Tim. I promise. What are you going to do this weekend? I heard that Gibbs let you have Saturday off again."

Tim nodded.

"So...what are you going to do?"

"I'm...going to drive up the coast a little ways."

"And do what?"

Tim shrugged, a sure sign that he had plans and he didn't want to share. Abby hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should pry (and also wondering when she had started worrying about prying). Then, she decided that Tim could say no if he didn't want to tell her.

"What, Tim? You're not going to go looking for this guy by yourself, are you?"

Tim smiled. "No. Not a chance. I'm not _that_ stupid."

"Good."

"I'm looking for my mother."

"Your...mother?"

"She was somewhere north of here, and...and I want to know who she is. I don't know how long it'll take, but I feel like I need to find her."

"Couldn't you...ask?"

"I have. He doesn't remember where she was. It's all just beaches to them. If he was _on_ the beach, he could say that it was the right one, but just telling me where it is?"

"Oh."

"And I don't want company right now. It's such a shot in the dark to start that I don't want anyone coming along and trying to 'help' me. Later, I...I'll talk about it, but right now, it needs to be me alone."

"Does Gibbs know?"

"That I'm looking? Yeah."

"Okay. That's good enough for me. I'll try to keep it to myself. Have a good weekend, Tim."

"I'll probably be by again, later."

Abby smiled. "That's why I like having this search going. I get to see you more."

Tim smiled back and then gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading up to the bullpen.

Abby grinned and went back to work, herself.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"Gibbs!"

Gibbs stopped, stifling a sigh. Tim could see that he wasn't happy with the interruption.

"Yes, Director?"

Vance walked over and gave Tim a passing glance.

"I need to speak with you."

"Now?"

"Yes."

Gibbs nodded.

"McGee, go down to Autopsy and get the update from Ducky."

Tim nodded, trying not to look surprised that Gibbs was sending him _anywhere_ by himself. Then, Gibbs followed Vance up to his office. Tim headed for the elevator, ignoring the looks that he got.

The elevator door dinged open, revealing Jimmy. He looked at Tim and then, looked away and stepped off the elevator. Tim held back a sigh of his own and got on. He wished there was something he could say that would make it so that Jimmy wasn't like that...but he couldn't think of anything he hadn't already said. He just had to hope that time really would fix things.

The elevator dinged open at the basement and Tim walked into Autopsy.

"Not quite ready for you, Jethro. With your astute sense of timing, I would think that you could figure out when I'll be ready, especially after so many years of this."

"He probably doesn't care," Tim said.

Ducky turned around in surprise.

"Timothy! Where's Jethro?"

"Vance needed to talk to him; so he sent me down to get an update."

"I'm surprised that he did."

"Me, too, actually."

"How are you doing?"

Tim suppressed a grimace. Maybe it was just because he knew that Ducky had seen him in as bad a state as he had ever been in, but he always felt like there was more to the question when Ducky asked it. It wasn't that Ducky was pushy about his concern, but it felt like it was always there, long after it was needed.

"Fine."

"Good."

Ducky gestured for Tim to join him at the table.

"As you can see, we're not quite finished. Mr. Palmer had some meetings to attend and so he had to leave early."

"Yeah. I saw him," Tim said, dully.

Ducky paused.

"It _will_ get better, Timothy."

"I don't blame him, Ducky. I just wish I could make it better somehow, but I don't think I can because I already apologized, and he already accepted it. ...and he already knows the real reason for what I did. If none of that helped, nothing will."

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't know, either."

Tim shook his head.

"It'll either get better or it won't." He took a breath. "What have you found so far?"

"Nothing that would contradict suicide so far. I've already sent samples up to Abigail to process. We'll have to wait and see, of course, but preliminary findings all fit. I'm not finished yet, though."

Tim smiled.

"I know."

"You've seemed a little off lately, Timothy. Are you sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine, Ducky," Tim said, quickly taking a step back.

He wasn't sure he could really explain why he felt so self-conscious about Ducky's concern, but he was.

"If that's everything, I'll let Gibbs know."

Tim started to walk away.

"Timothy?"

Tim stopped but he didn't turn around.

"Is something wrong? Have I offended you somehow?"

Tim turned quickly.

"No! No, you haven't done anything, Ducky," he said. "I'm not offended."

"Then, what is it because it feels as though you are trying to avoid me as much as Mr. Palmer has been avoiding you."

Tim felt ashamed at the comparison. He looked at the floor.

"I'm sorry, Ducky."

"Oh, I don't need you to feel guilty, lad. I just am trying to understand."

"I'm...I'm not sure. Part of it... You really saw me."

"What do you mean?"

"The others, they only saw the aftermath. You actually saw me affected by what happened and...and there's no hiding it. When you ask questions, it feels more like you're always asking about that. I don't know if you are or not, but...I get really...uncomfortable because...you really saw it."

"To be honest, Timothy, there is some of that in my questions, but only in part. Most of it is simply a casual question about your general well-being."

Tim smiled a little and chanced looked up at Ducky.

"I feel so... What I did to stay... people don't understand it. They don't know why I did what I did, what I felt and they stare and I hate being the focus of so much attention. So then...you see and you ask and you already know."

"And it's just another question, only vocalized. I see. I am sorry that I was adding to your stress, but I promise that I'm not trying to pry. You don't need to feel embarrassed about what happened that night. There's nothing for you to feel upset about, and I don't hold what you went through against you."

"I'm sorry, Ducky. I've been trying to get back to where I was before all this started, but I just can't."

"Not yet, of course. If there's one thing that I do understand, it's that the shock of what you went through is not something you can get over quickly. I will try not to add to your problems."

"Thanks," Tim said. "I wish everything was solved so simply."

"Alas, a simple misunderstanding is easier to deal with than the complexities that are so common in your life right now."

"Yeah. Anything else on the case?"

"No. Abigail may have results from her tests by now, but I'm sure she'll let everyone know when she does."

Tim smiled. "Right."

Then, he headed out of Autopsy.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"What's the problem, Vance?"

"Something that was intercepted in the mail room."

"What?"

Vance handed Gibbs a folded piece of paper.

"It was addressed to Agent McGee, but without any sign of having gone through the system. They were nervous about something getting through the scans; so they were more careful."

Gibbs unfolded the paper and read it.

The message wasn't long.

_You don't deserve to be here. If you don't admit that, we'll help you._

He looked up.

"Anything to say what the origins were?"

"I've sent the envelope to Ms. Sciuto, but there's no guarantee that we'll find DNA. Gibbs, this could be someone trying to stir things up or it could be genuinely dangerous. Everyone in the building knows what happened to some degree."

"What do you suggest?"

"That you don't let Agent McGee be alone at work for the next little while. Hopefully, we'll find out who it was and that it was just someone blowing off steam. I'd hate to think that anyone working here would actually be willing to hurt Agent McGee, but I wouldn't have expected Agent McGee to do what he did, either."

"Are you going to tell McGee about it?"

"I'll leave that up to you. It didn't get to him, and I've told the people in the mail room to be more cautious about anything addressed to Agent McGee."

Gibbs wasn't sure that telling Tim someone had threatened him was a good idea, but was it a good idea to leave him in the dark about the possibility of coming to some harm? How could anyone have anticipated how many tendrils Tim's actions would have?

He left Vance's office and headed back to the bullpen. Tim wasn't back yet. Maybe he should go down to Autopsy to check on things. No sense in borrowing trouble. There was already enough to go around.

He headed down to Autopsy as quickly as he could and found Ducky alone, working on the body.

"Ducky, where's McGee?"

"Oh, I wasn't quite finished with the autopsy; so I assumed he had returned to the bullpen. I take it he wasn't there?"

"No."

Gibbs started to feel worried. What if that was all the warning Tim was going to get and something really had happened? He turned and left Autopsy without answering any of Ducky's questions about what was wrong.

Where would Tim have gone?


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Tim watched the computer work, knowing he should go back up to his desk but not wanting to be up there when he would just be on display again. It was almost the weekend. He just needed to get through the day and then, he could go and start his search.

"Tim, if it's such a problem, you could tell Gibbs," Abby said.

"He already knows. He can't stop people from staring."

Abby laughed. "I'll bet he could."

Tim smiled reluctantly. "Okay, you're probably right, but it won't stop them from thinking it."

"You're right. I'm sorry this is so crappy for you. I could go around and threaten everyone."

"No. Everyone keeps telling me it'll go away. I can only hope that they're right."

The doors to the lab slid open and Gibbs came striding in. Tim turned quickly and felt a little chagrined that Gibbs had to come and find him.

"What are you doing in here, McGee?" he asked.

Tim could have sworn that Gibbs actually seemed a little relieved to see him.

"I was just waiting to see if Abby would get some results on her blood tests. I figured your meeting with Vance would be long. I'm sorry, Boss."

Gibbs just grunted and looked at Abby.

"What do you got, Abbs?"

"Blood is clean, Gibbs," Abby said. "No sign that someone might have drugged him. If Ducky doesn't find anything weird in the autopsy, I don't see anything to say this wasn't suicide."

Gibbs nodded and gestured to Tim.

Tim followed Gibbs, expecting to be lectured for wasting time sitting around when he could have been working.

"Are you still planning on going north this weekend?"

"Yeah...unless you're going to tell me that I'm not."

"No."

"I'm sorry that I was in Abby's lab instead of working, Boss. I just wanted a break from all the people staring at me and wondering why I wasn't fired, why I did what I did. It's almost the first time that Abby has been more relaxing than anyone else in the building."

He saw Gibbs' mouth twitch almost in a smile.

"Anyone in particular bugging you?" he asked.

"No," Tim said, surprised that Gibbs was even bothering to ask. "The only people who _aren't_ thinking I've gone around the bend are you guys. Even Director Vance isn't sure what to do with me. If it weren't for you stepping in, I'm sure I would have been fired. I probably deserved to be fired. Actually, I _did_." Tim bit his lip and then decided just to ask the question. "Boss, is there a chance that things will get back to normal here? Or do you think that it's going to stay like this?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't think I can deal with it permanently, and that would mean that I'd be stuck with nothing."

"It won't be and you won't."

"Okay."

"Enjoy your weekend, and remember what I said."

"I'll be careful, Boss."

"Good."

They went back up to the bullpen. Tony and Ziva had got back from doing interviews which gave Tim a buffer for the rest of the day. Then, it was time to go, and Tim was relieved. He was also eager to get going on his search. He was planning on going up the coast beyond New York to see if he could find anything.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Saturday afternoon..._

Tim sat back and thought about how hopeless this task was beginning to seem. He couldn't get into official government records unless he hacked them and he didn't want to do that. He had started to realize that while he could see birth announcements in the local papers, that told him exactly diddly squat about whether or not this might be his mother.

_What in the world did I expect?_

He sighed.

"Can I help you find anything?"

Tim jumped a little and looked up at the librarian.

"I'm sorry?"

"Can I help you find anything?"

"Probably not. I'm starting to wonder what I thought I was going to accomplish anyway."

To his surprise, the librarian sat down beside him and smiled.

"What are you looking for?" she asked.

"Me...well, my mother."

"Oh, were you adopted?"

Tim laughed. "I wish it was that simple. It's a long story."

"I've got time."

Tim smiled at her, knowing that there was no way he could tell her the whole story, but maybe it would be nice to tell a part of it to a stranger.

"Well, I know that my mother gave me up, but not for adoption. I know that I was with her for some period of time before that, but it wasn't very long. I lived with one group until I was in my teens. Then, I spent the rest of my life with another family who took me in but never officially adopted me. I don't know what name, if any, I had when I was born. I don't know where. I don't even know when. I have nowhere to start, and I thought that there was a chance of finding something, but it seems impossible."

"You don't know when you were born?"

"No. I don't. I have approximations, but the people who took me in didn't know when I was born. They just guessed based on what I looked like and the people I was with before didn't...know when I was born, either."

"That does sound complicated. What were you trying?"

"Birth announcements in the local papers. I know my mother wasn't married. I thought that maybe I could find single mothers listed and that there wouldn't be too many, and maybe I could narrow it down that way, but..."

"But you don't know where. So what were you going to do to narrow down the location?"

"I know it's north not south and that it was on the coast, not inland."

"That's it?"

"That's it. Pretty ridiculous, huh."

The librarian shook her head. "Not ridiculous, but I can see why you're discouraged. What about your father?"

"I have found him, although that's...a whole other complication."

"Why? Not what you expected?"

Tim smiled, knowing that his father's identity would never even occur to this nice lady.

"It's not that. It's just complicated."

"Well, since you know who he is, maybe he could tell you who she is?"

Tim shook his head. "No. He knows who she is, but he can't remember where she was. It's not that he was..." Here, Tim paused. The behavior of male selkies could easily be construed as predatory and he wasn't sure how to explain it to sound okay. "He cared for her, but they couldn't stay together, and it's been a long time. And there are other problems." _Like, he doesn't calculate time and doesn't pay attention to what humans look like beyond the basics and never learned human geography._

"Surely, if he remembers her, he knows what she looked like." The librarian seemed a little scandalized.

"Well..." Tim stopped. He'd never even _considered_ asking his father what his mother had looked like. He had asked about her, but never her appearance. Maybe, if he did that, he could get Abby to make up a sketch like she had done already. Perhaps using NCIS resources might be a bit sketchy, but he just wanted to know and his mother had regretted giving him up before. If she had changed her mind, at least he'd know it and not be wondering about her for the rest of his life.

"You know what? I never even thought about asking him. I don't know why."

"It sounds like you have a pretty complicated life. If something simple passed you by, I think you can be forgiven."

Tim smiled. "Well, at least this trip wasn't a complete waste. I have something else to try. If you hadn't said anything, I would have been thinking about giving up."

"Then, I'm glad I could help."

"You did. You really did."

Tim left the library and headed for the beach. This wasn't where the seals were; so he didn't anticipate seeing them. He wondered if he should try to contact his father or the other one, but he hadn't found anything yet with the man they'd been asking about, and maybe that wouldn't be looked on with much favor. It _had_ been a week. Would they want an update?

If he were honest, Tim could say that, no, they wouldn't. They would want to know if he found something or if there was nothing to find. They wouldn't care about the process of getting to either of those conclusions.

He also knew that it wasn't considered right to be in continual contact with a specific place, a specific person.

_But I've never been here before that I know of. It wouldn't be the same place, and who would really be expecting me to be here?_

Tim knew that he shouldn't, though. He wasn't sure he could do it in any case, and he didn't want his father to get into trouble for trying to help his wayward son.

There wasn't any kind of rush on this. He could wait until he either got some results or didn't. Then, when he talked to his father again, he could ask.

That would be the logical thing to do, and Tim decided he would try to be patient and wait. No matter what else, he could control the desire to do things now.

Decision made, he got to his feet and headed back to his car. If he started back now, he could be back in DC before it was too late and then, he could sleep in on Sunday.

...and maybe stop at a beach and go for a swim in the ocean. Seals or no seals.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He was on the beach, hidden from view, wondering if he would ever luck out again. How likely was it that he'd find the man who swam with the seals just by chance? Well, there weren't any seals here. He was just sitting, staring at the sea, hating the way his life had gone, knowing that there was a way to make it better.

If only he could find a selkie. A real, live selkie. They wouldn't be laughing at him anymore. They would know that he'd been right all along. They would see that these beings were among them all the time, more insidious than any possible alien invasion could be.

He would...

A car pulled up and a man got out. He looked around and then headed for the water. As he walked, he began to take off his clothes.

Could it be?

There were no seals around, though.

But he was clearly headed to the water to swim. The build looked the same as he'd seen before. It was nighttime. He didn't seem even slightly hesitant.

He watched as the man piled his clothes on the sand and then ran out into the waves. He began to swim with strong, confident strokes.

As if he belonged in the water.

This was the man who swam with the seals. He would swear to it.

He couldn't let this opportunity pass him by.

Not this time.

While the man was out in the ocean, he ran back to his car and got some things out of his trunk. He always had them with him, just in case. He would be prepared for any opportunity, any remote chance.

This was his chance.

He ran back to the beach and hid himself, waiting for the man to return.

It took some time, but eventually, he did. He staggered out onto the sand, looking tired.

Perfect.

Yes. Perfect. Now was the time.

Without any more delay, he ran out of his hiding place and tackled the man. He shouted in surprise and started to struggle.

"You're not getting away from me this time," he said and hit the man over the head.

He collapsed into the sand and stopped moving. To make sure he stayed unconscious, he took a rag and soaked it in halothane. Then, he put it over the man's nose and mouth, making sure he breathed in plenty of it before pulling the rag away. Then, he looked around. No one here.

Perfect.

He dragged the man up the sand to his car and shoved him into the back seat. Then, he tied his hands and feet, just in case.

"Now, you're going to help me. You _will_ help me find the selkies," he said softly as he got in the front seat. "You have no choice."

He drove away from the beach toward his hideout. He hadn't been on the grid for years. Even if this man had family and friends who worried about him, no one would even _think_ to look for him.

Perfect.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Tim felt himself wake up, but he wasn't happy about it. His head was throbbing unpleasantly and his brain was swimming through soup. His stomach was roiling and he noticed that he couldn't move his arms. All in all, this wasn't a promising start to consciousness.

Still, he tried not to move and reveal his current state. Whoever had done this to him had kept him alive and he was sure he wasn't on the beach anymore. So he had taken him somewhere. Taken him for a purpose.

Why?

Why would this man, whoever he was, do that? Tim hadn't got a good look at him before getting whomped on. He seemed to remember the man saying something to him about not getting away.

...but who could think that about him? Tim hadn't run away from _anyone_ that he knew of. The only person who had ever done anything to him was dead and she hadn't even had any family...besides a selkie.

He heard movement and remained still, trying to think through the pea soup of his brain and figure out what had happened and why.

There hadn't been any seals around. He was just a guy swimming in the ocean. He'd gone a little too far, but he'd got back fine, and that meant that there was no reason to have anyone watching him and wondering.

_What is going on?_

One thing was for sure. He was in trouble, and no one knew it. At least, he was going to work on that assumption. If no one knew he was in trouble, that meant it would be more than a day before anyone would even know he was missing.

_Gibbs will never let me go anywhere again,_ Tim thought to himself. He hadn't been doing anything dangerous and he _still_ got into trouble.

_I'm turning into Tony._

But wait. There might be a way of getting help.

...but could he do it?

Right now, while he was still supposedly unconscious, he might be able to reach out and find his father. He'd never done it away from the ocean, never even _tried_ it away from the ocean. Still, if he was going to succeed with anyone, his father was his best bet.

With his eyes still closed, he tried to shift into that other state, the one that allowed him to sense the people around him, the minds, the souls. It was hard to do, but he kept trying, even through his throbbing headache. He felt the strange, twisted mind of the man close to him and he pushed away from that. He started spiraling outward from where he was. He didn't know where he was, although he guessed he wasn't _too _far from the beach where he'd been swimming.

Out and out. He started to tremble, hoping that it wasn't visible to his captor. It was so hard to find the selkies, but he knew they were out there. He knew his father's mind would be receptive. He pressed on until he thought his brain might start oozing out his ears.

Then, finally, he found it. His father was asleep. He pushed on that familiar selkie mind as much as he could, called for help and then had to retreat in complete exhaustion.

Everything started to go fuzzy again, only this time from the mental exertion instead of the blunt force trauma. He thought he heard a voice, but then, he was gone in the blackness, hoping that he'd succeeded.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

The next time he awakened, he was still tired, but he felt less sick.

Unfortunately, he opened his eyes without thinking.

"You're awake. Good."

Tim turned his head and winced at the pain. He couldn't quite see who was there.

"I don't know what you want," he said, "but you've made a big mistake in assaulting me."

"I don't think I have," the man said.

He was standing just out of sight. Tim couldn't get a good look at him no matter how he craned his neck.

"You're the man who swims with the seals."

Tim's heart sank. How had he known? Tim hadn't ever seen anyone close enough to identify him when he'd gone swimming. He didn't have to agree, though. Why confirm something like that? There was no point.

"Am I?" he asked.

"You swim with the seals and you know who the selkies are."

"What?"

Suddenly, there was a movement and Tim was lifted off the ground where he lay and shaken.

"You know where the selkies are. You know who they are and you will tell me what I want to know!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tim said, hoping that he could keep the truth away from this man.

"Yes, you do!" the man shouted.

He threw Tim back to the ground and finally gave Tim a good look at his captor.

His heart sank all the way to his shoes. He saw the two patches of discolored skin by the man's ear. He had dark hair, a goatee and light blue eyes that seemed at odds with his dark coloring.

This was the man that the selkies had noticed watching them.

_I wasn't even looking for him! How in the world can I be _that_ unlucky?_

"I don't understand what you mean. I was swimming. People do that all the time," he said, keeping his voice calm. After all, there hadn't been any seals around last night. "Look, if you just let me go, I won't tell anyone."

The man seemed infuriated by Tim's reply.

"You won't blow me off so easily," he said. "If you tell me what I want to know, I'll let you go. If you don't, I'll keep you and I'll _make_ you tell me."

"I can't tell you what I don't know," Tim said.

"But you _can_ tell me what you _do_ know. And you know where the selkies are."

"I don't even know what a selkie is," Tim said, lying through his teeth. He'd been told he was a terrible liar before, but more lives than his own depended on it. He could see it. This man had bad intentions if he found what he was looking for. "What are you talking about?"

The man kicked his leg. Hard. Tim winced.

"I will _not_ take no for an answer. I will _not_ stand for you protecting them. They're more insidious than aliens would be. They can look just like us!"

Even though the situation was bad, Tim almost smiled. Yes, selkies _could_ look just like humans. What would this man do if he knew he was talking to a selkie right now?

"Aliens?" Tim asked, infusing some skepticism into his voice.

"You think you can get away with that?" the man asked. "I will not let you keep these bizarre freaks of nature a secret! No one believes me! I tell them that they're out there, just waiting, biding their time, but no one believes me. They write me off as a lunatic. When I get a real selkie and I show it to the world, _then,_ we'll know what to do to keep them in their place. Then, we'll know. And everyone will help me. They'll be beating down my door, looking to me to lead them."

"Okay...if you say so," Tim said.

The man kicked him again.

"Tell me where they are!" he shouted.

"I can't tell you what I don't know!" Tim said again.

The man let out a frustrated shout and kicked Tim once more. Then, he stormed away from where Tim was lying on the ground. How long would he keep this up? Tim didn't know, but he did know one thing.

This was not looking good. He could try to contact the selkies again, but if this was the man looking for them, there was no way that he'd try to lead them to him.

No, he would just have to wait and hope that he could either get out on his own or that his team would find him...once they realized he was missing.

That was the problem. How long would it take?

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Monday afternoon..._

Tim wasn't in yet, and Gibbs wanted to see how his weekend had gone. If he had driven a long way, he could believe that Tim might be late, however out of character that might seem. He hadn't mentioned it yet, hoping that Tim would show up in moments.

His phone rang while Gibbs was staring at Tim's empty desk.

"Gibbs."

"_Hey, Agent Gibbs, there's a man down here I think is looking for you."_

"You think?"

"_He doesn't know any names, but his description sounded like you, and he insists that his son works here, although he didn't have a name for him, either."_ Henry's voice lowered. _"He's kind of a weird guy. If you want me to tell him to get lost, I'm more than happy to do it."_

"What does he look like?"

"_Tall, dark hair. It's pretty long hair, but he's clean shaven. He has dark eyes, too."_

Could it be–?

"I'll be right down."

"_Okay."_

Gibbs hung up and hurried down to the main entrance. Henry was standing at his usual post, but he definitely didn't seem too happy about it. The man he'd described was standing patiently without moving. All he had with him was a small pack slung over his shoulder.

Gibbs recognized him. It was Tim's father...his selkie father.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. They didn't have names that he knew of.

"I need to speak with you," the selkie said. "It is very important."

"You all right with coming inside?"

He looked around the space, evaluating. Gibbs couldn't help wondering just how often the selkies were ever indoors.

"Yes. I will come with you."

Gibbs looked at the old security guard. "Thanks, Henry. It's fine. I know him."

"All right, Agent Gibbs." He handed the selkie a visitor pass.

The selkie looked at it and then simply held it in his hand without any comprehension as to its purpose. Gibbs gestured for the selkie to follow him to the elevator. They got on and the selkie had to balance himself when it started to move.

"What is this?"

"It's an elevator."

"We are moving?"

"Yes. It's a way of getting up to different parts of the building."

"Interesting."

Gibbs reached over and flipped off the elevator. The jolt made the selkie have to balance himself again.

"And it's also a place that I use when I need to have private conversations. Why are you here?"

"As I said, it is very important."

"What is it?"

"Has the one called my son been here today?"

"No." This didn't sound good.

"I thought that would be the case."

"What?"

"I felt him call for help in the night. When I tried to contact him again, I could not. In the day, I searched again, but even though I know his mind, it was not where I could find it."

"And you came here? Why?"

"You humans are friends to him. I do not know where he is for certain, but he is much closer to this place than to where the seals are."

"And you could just come here? No problems?"

The selkie smiled slightly. "I may have had to convince them to let me go and come back later."

"Why did you? If it's against the rules..."

"I made a promise. I cannot be a true selkie if I am willing to break my word. It is all we have. I promised that I would care for him. He needs help. He asked for it. I will give it."

"Do you know what happened?"

"No. I was sleeping when he touched my mind. The contact was not long enough for anything more than to tell me it was him. I have not spoken to him since I asked for his help."

"You did? What for?" Gibbs asked, surprised that there had been _any_ contact between the two.

"There was a man watching the seals. It seemed to be a man who was looking for us and we asked the skinless one to help us find out who he is, what his reasons may be. He agreed to do that."

"I didn't know anything about that."

"I cannot say what he was going to do, but he got a description of him from the other and promised to try."

A description. That meant he had likely gone to Abby. Why hadn't he mentioned it to anyone else? Had he lied about what he was doing on the weekend? If so, and Tim had gone looking for this guy on his own, Gibbs was going to ream him when they found him.

When.

"I think this might have something to do with Tim being missing. Can you come with me or will that be a problem?"

"I cannot return to my herd until we have found him. I will go where you would like to lead me, although I will warn you that if your intention is to trick me, I will not submit easily."

That was a genuine warning, and while Gibbs considered himself more than equal to any intimidation, he could admit that he would hate to have to fight against the selkie. He could see how strong he was.

"No tricks."

"Then, I will not have to kill you."

Gibbs smiled, but he knew that was no idle threat. He started up the elevator and led the selkie to the bullpen.

Tony and Ziva were at their desks. They both glanced up and then looked back down...and then, looked up again. They both recognized the selkie.

"You! What–?" Tony started to sputter in surprise.

"Not here," Gibbs muttered. "We're going down to see Abby."

"What's going on, Boss?" Tony asked in a low voice.

"McGee is missing."

That was all it took. Tony and Ziva followed and they went down to Abby's lab.

Abby turned around and smiled at them all. She clearly didn't expect anything.

"What's up, Gibbs? I hadn't heard there was a new case."

"What were you doing for McGee?"

Abby started to hedge, but not in a way that made her seem worried.

"Did Vance find out? Tim wasn't sure about that, and I know he really doesn't want to get in trouble again. He's afraid he'll get fired this time."

"What were you doing, Abbs?"

"He gave me a really weird description of some guy and he wanted me to see if he would show up in any records. It's been running for more than week."

"Why?"

Now, she was really hedging.

"Well...I...Gibbs, it's just that..."

"Abby, we know about who asked him to do this."

"You do? How?"

Gibbs gestured to the selkie.

"This is Tim's father."

Abby's mouth dropped open and stayed that way for a few seconds. Then, she started talking.

"Wow...his...real father. Wow! That is so cool! I never thought that I'd have you...here...in my lab! Wow! I can't believe it! And you look so normal. I mean, I'd never guess that you were..." She tripped over saying it aloud. "And I can see it in you! I mean, you don't look a _whole_ lot like him, but you really do have some of the same...looks. This is so totally amazing. I wish I could just take a DNA sample right now and..."

"Abby!" Gibbs said loudly.

"What? Why were you asking me about this, if you already knew? Was it some kind of test, Gibbs? I'm hurt."

"Abby, do you know where McGee is?"

Finally, it hit her, and she realized that something was wrong.

"No. Why? What happened?"

"We don't know," Gibbs said. "He called his father for help, but that's all we know. Was he planning on searching for this guy himself?"

"No!" Abby said, instantly. "No, not at all. He promised me that he had no plans for that. He wasn't going to tell anyone unless we found out anything about him. I still have it running and there have been no hits yet. He didn't want to remind you guys about...that. If we found something and it looked dangerous, he was going to tell you, Gibbs. I promise. That's what he said and he meant it!"

"Do you know where he was going this weekend?"

"Along the coast, north of here. That's all. He was looking for his mom, he said."

"He was?" Tony asked. "Really?"

"He's been doing that for a few weeks, now," Gibbs said.

"Really?" Ziva asked. "That is not something he has even mentioned to us."

"I think he doesn't like to remind people about everything," Abby said. "With how much people still don't like him here, he's really self-conscious."

"Why?" the selkie asked. It was the first time he'd spoken in front of them. "What has he done?"

"Well, back when that happened, Tim threatened Jimmy and me so that he'd get the others to follow him. The gun was empty, but we didn't know that at the time. People heard about it, here, and they don't trust him."

"Why not? He did not shoot anyone. He had no intention to cause any harm at all. He did all that he did so that he could stay here and to help the other. Is this what humans are like? Intentions do not matter, only what things appear to be?"

"_We_ don't feel that way," Abby said. "It's the others who don't know what really happened."

"Why not?" the selkie asked. "Of course, he cannot tell all of it, but why have none of you told them what happened? Why have you let others think he is in the wrong when he is not?"

"It's not that simple."

"It should be, but that is not why I am here. He is in danger somewhere, and you are the ones who have the ability to search for him. I will help where I can, but I need your help to do so. Will you do this?"

"Of course!" Ziva said. "If Tim needs help, we could not do anything else."

"Good. How will you start?"

Gibbs looked at Tony and raised an eyebrow.

"BOLO on McGee's car. On it, Boss."

"Check out his apartment and see if there are any clues there," Ziva said.

They both turned and left the lab.

"You also communicate without words?" the selkie asked.

Abby laughed.

"It's training," Gibbs said.

"I see. What is this bolo?"

"It's a notice for police to look for his car and if they see it, to call us."

"This works?"

"A lot of the time, it does."

"How long does it take?"

"That depends. We'll send it all over the coast, not knowing exactly where he was going."

The selkie nodded and looked around the lab, with some curiosity.

"I have never seen a place like this."

"I'll tell you about it, if you want," Abby said. "While we wait."

Gibbs phone started to ring. He saw that it was Vance and grimaced. He was going to have to share this, and how to do it without getting into dicey territory was going to be a struggle. He nodded to the selkie and left him with Abby, hoping that this would work out.


	10. Chapter 09

**Chapter 9**

Abby stared at the selkie in fascination. He looked like a human, but he wasn't. She could see the difference in his eyes. This was a different species. He spoke very formally, as one who was fluent in a second language but didn't use it often. His clothes were simple; the predominant color was gray. He was tall, almost regal in his bearing. As he looked around the lab, he had a fluid motion, somehow combined with a bit of clumsiness that seemed out of place.

He noticed her scrutiny and his eyes widened expressively.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just never thought I'd get the chance to...to meet...you."

"You are a friend of the one called my son?"

"Yes. It's been so amazing learning about him. He kept it all from us until just a couple of months ago, and I've had a hard time not asking too many questions."

"And there are questions you wish to ask me?"

"Yes...if you don't mind. While we're waiting to find out what there is, it would be nice."

"I may not answer all of your questions, but you may ask."

"Do you have your skin with you?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"Yes." He gestured to his bag. " I would not ever leave it."

"We have cameras in here; so I won't ask you to use it, but...what does the change feel like? Tim said he couldn't remember. It had been too long."

"It is hard to explain to one who does not know it. It is freedom. To be trapped in one or the other for a long time is like being in a prison. Those born on land feel more need to be in this form than those born in the sea, but we are both and we cannot be kept from either. That is why his choice was so different. I cannot understand choosing only one, but he has always been different."

"It was really hard for him."

"Yes. Do you have other questions?"

"I've been reading the stories ever since. Are they real?"

"Some. Not all."

"Crying tears into the sea?"

He smiled. "Yes. That is true. That is his origin."

"Really? His mother...?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

Abby was interested because he wasn't robotic by any means, but there was a kind of stoicism that marked him as different.

"Is there a chance that I could ever...see you change?"

"It is not something that is done. What was done before was not usual."

"I understand. I was just hoping that...since I already know, I could see it, too."

"I cannot say yes, but I will not say no."

Abby smiled.

"Okay. One more question."

"Yes?"

"Do you know what DNA is?"

"No."

"Genes?"

"No."

"So I guess amino acids are out of the picture, too?"

"Yes."

Abby tried to think of how to explain it to him when he was intelligent, but completely unfamiliar with these kinds of things. "It's...it's what makes us look the way we do. It's in everything that's alive. It's what makes one person different from another person and one species different from another species. You can't see it, but if I took a part of you, I'd have your DNA."

"I am not sure if I understand all of what you say, but it seems like it could be something real, not created."

"It is. What I wanted to know is, if it was allowed, if I could take a sample of your DNA. I would never show it to anyone. I just want to know for myself."

"Again, I cannot say yes."

"Okay. I just thought I'd ask."

"Now, I have a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"This human we saw. You are searching?"

"Yes."

"How does this searching work? You do it while standing in this room?"

Abby smiled and nodded.

"Okay, I'll show you what we do and I'll try to explain how it works."

She started to describe the process, still unable to stop staring at the selkie standing in her lab.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Gibbs went up to Vance's office and was admitted.

"Agent Gibbs, I was in the bullpen and heard Agent DiNozzo asking for a BOLO on Agent McGee's car. Would you care to bring me up to speed on why that's necessary?"

Gibbs kept himself from groaning. Yes, Vance had the right to know what was happening with his agents, but this was so awkward, and Gibbs didn't feel awkward very often.

"His father said that Tim called him last night, asking for help. That was all he was able to say, and his father is worried. So he contacted us."

"His father?"

"His real father."

Vance raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't aware he knew the identity of his birth parents."

"He found his father more than a month ago. He only told me about it a couple of weeks ago. He's trying to keep his personal life away from his work life. Can't blame him."

"No. I appreciate that, but he didn't even mention that he was in contact with his father when I spoke to him."

"McGee is afraid of losing his job, Director. He doesn't want to say anything that he doesn't have to."

"Are you sure that he's really missing and hasn't just lost it again?"

"As sure as I can be. Even if he has lost it, he's still in trouble."

"Granted. What are you doing besides the BOLO?"

"Ziva's gone to his apartment to see if there's any sign of him there."

"Do you know where he was?"

"No. He was planning on searching for his birth mother now that he's found his father. He didn't tell me details."

"Right." Vance sat at his desk and took a breath. "All right, Gibbs. Do not keep me out of the loop this time. I don't want to find out that my agent has lost his mind by seeing it in the news. No hidden agendas."

"Understood."

"Then, I hope you find him and that it's not serious."

Gibbs nodded and left the office. That's what he was hoping as well.

...but he didn't think they were going to luck out that way.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim wasn't sure how long he could keep this crazy man from killing him because there was no way he was going to answer his questions, and he wasn't sure that his insanity wouldn't push him over the edge.

As it was, Tim could feel a number of bruises forming on his legs. He didn't know why this man was focusing on his legs, but they had been on the receiving end of a number of kicks, and he couldn't say that he was enjoying it much. He supposed it was better than his head.

The man had forced him to breathe in something rank that had knocked him out again. He'd just awakened alone in the large open room. He didn't know how long he'd been out, but he felt a little ill.

As he lay on the floor, trying to get his brain in gear, he took stock of his current position.

He was restrained pretty securely, with ties around his ankles and around his wrists, and, unfortunately, his wrists had been pulled around behind him. His arms had been twisted so that the backs of his hands were facing each other, meaning that he'd have to break his arms to get them around to the front. He couldn't see anything close to him that he could use to get away at the moment, but he couldn't see behind himself, either.

He _could_ shuffle himself around if he was alone.

_But am I alone?_

He wasn't sure he wanted to try moving around if his captor was nearby. That might make him mad again.

Still, he didn't want lie around doing nothing to help his situation and just hope he got rescued. He'd contacted his father, but he regretted that now. If this man was looking for selkies, the last thing he should get was access to a selkie. ...even if he had that right now, clearly, he didn't know it, and it wasn't like Tim could demonstrate it at this point.

Alone or not, he should probably try something.

He wiggled around until he was facing the other way, trying to get a good look at his surroundings.

It didn't help. It was a large empty space. A warehouse, maybe? A barn? No, not a barn. A warehouse could be, though. A really big shed? Was that any different from a warehouse? Probably not.

"You're awake again."

Oh, no.

Tim grimaced at the voice.

"Then, you can answer my questions."

"The answers aren't going to change, no matter how many times you ask them," Tim said. "This doesn't have to be a serious thing. You obviously need help. I know people who can help you. You just need to let me go."

The man strode over to him.

"The only help I need is knowing where the selkies are, and you're going to help me do that. Understand? That is the only answer I will accept. If you don't help me willingly, I'll force you to help me."

"Look, I like swimming in the ocean. That's all."

"That's _not_ all! I won't hear of it being all! You don't seem to understand how serious this is! They could take us over. An invasion from the sea!"

Tim forced himself to laugh. It _was_ pretty funny to think that the selkies had any interest in killing all the humans off. There weren't even close to enough of them. But he had to make it seem as ridiculous as possible.

"You think that seals are going to invade the land? Are you kidding?"

As he'd thought, that made his captor very angry.

"Don't laugh at me!" he shouted.

He kicked Tim as hard as he could in the stomach. Tim gagged a little and curled in on himself.

"This is not a joke!" the man shouted at him. "This is serious! I will _not_ have you treating me like everyone else did! They're out there and they can kill us and disappear into the sea without anyone knowing!"

Tim was trying to keep breathing. He couldn't reply sarcastically, as he wanted to do. Instead, he just tried to breathe and not to throw up.

"I need proof, and the only way I can get people to listen to me is if they can't do anything else."

He grabbed Tim by the shoulders and lifted him off the floor. He shook him.

"Don't you want to save the human race? These are _your_ people! We're so worried about fighting each other that we haven't thought about what other species might be planning."

Tim forced himself to laugh again.

"Are you listening to yourself?" he asked through gritted teeth. "Human beings are more likely to kill off other species, not to be killed _by_ them. You sound like a nut."

As he'd hoped, that made the man so angry that he threw Tim back down to the floor and stormed away from him. He was clearly missing more than one or two screws, but Tim couldn't help wondering how it was that he'd become so convinced that the selkies were real. Regardless, he wasn't going to waste time wondering about that. There were more important things to do.

He started to try and maneuver his hands around so that the palms were facing each other. If he could do that, then, he could, conceivably, get his hands under his legs and in front of him. Even if he was still tied up, that would mean that he could _do_ something, maybe untie his legs and run out of here.

Would it work? He didn't know. The ties were _really_ tight, but he had to try.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"This is the picture you made of the man?" the selkie asked.

Abby nodded. "Does he look right to you?"

The selkie shrugged. "I am not the one to ask. Human features do not stand out to me as they do to you. The other was the one who gave this description. He learned to see the differences while he was trapped. I have never done so. These pictures are so strange to me."

He reached out and touched the monitor. "I see that this functions as you say, but it is very strange to see these images so flat and lifeless."

Abby smiled. It was almost like having an alien visitor in the lab. He was curious, but not envious in any way. He had a way of life that he must enjoy. All these things were simply trinkets. Interesting but not necessary. She couldn't really fathom that perspective, but she could respect it.

"I have to admit that it's really weird trying to describe this stuff to you."

The selkie smiled. "It is a different language, even though we both are speaking the same."

"Yes." Then, not really knowing where the question came from, it popped out. "Do you miss Tim?"

"Miss?"

"Yes...Do you wish he was still with your people?"

He cocked his head to the side and considered her question for a long moment. Abby got the distinct impression that he didn't really understand what she was asking. She cast around for a comparison...and then, it hit her.

"I mean, like when one of you is can't go to the ocean. You wish you were back there."

"Yes, I understand that."

"Do you ever feel that kind of thing for Tim?"

"No."

"Really?"

Another smile. "I think that he has given up a real life for a shadow life that I cannot understand, but I admit that I cannot understand. He said that love is the only thing that is stronger than the sea. I have never felt love. I do not understand what it is, but if it keeps him living without pain, it is a good thing."

Abby smiled at the thought that love was what had kept Tim here. He hadn't ever said it that way, not really. She could also see why it would be hard to go back to the selkies once he'd felt it. It would be hard to give up that feeling of belonging, being wanted, being cared about if there was a choice. She could also see that, in his selkie way, he _did_ care about Tim. He just didn't have the human emotions attached to it.

"He's still adjusting, I think."

"As do I, but he is better than I thought."

"Really?"

"I thought he would die away from the sea, without his skin. He has shown that there is more. I will not ever know what more there is, but I see that it is there."

Suddenly, there was a ping on the computer. Abby turned.

"Oh. We got a match on the description."

The selkie turned as well.

"Who is it?"

Abby looked through the information.

"Uh oh."


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Anything?" Ziva asked as she walked back into the bullpen.

Tony shook his head.

"Not yet. You?"

"I fed Jethro and let him out. He is not as young as he was. He is slowing down."

"He's a dog. He won't live forever. I'm more worried about finding Tim right now."

"As am I. It was just an observation. There is no sign of anything wrong in his apartment. Whatever happened, it did not happen there."

"Great. Nothing on the BOLO yet. His...dad is still down with Abby. Out of sight, out of mind. ...and Vance knows."

"How?" Ziva asked.

"He heard me issuing the BOLO. It wasn't like I could stop mid-sentence and wait for him to leave. He just showed up out of nowhere. Worse than Gibbs."

"Where _is_ Gibbs?"

"He _was_ up with Vance. Where he is now, I don't know."

"Ah. How bad do you think this is?" she asked, keeping her voice low.

"Bad. McGee wouldn't just not come to work. ...and if he was contacting his dad for help..."

"Yes. Should we tell his...other family?"

"Not my decision. That's up to Gibbs, and I'm happy to leave it up to him. I don't want to have to tell them."

"No. Nor do I."

Gibbs came striding through the bullpen. He barely paused.

"Abby has something."

They jumped up to follow. Back down to Abby's lab. They all trooped inside. The selkie was still there. He seemed utterly unconcerned by his surroundings, but he _was_ looking with interest at the monitor.

"What do you got, Abbs?" Gibbs asked.

"A hit on the man that...that _they_ were looking for. I don't know if this is who has Tim, but if it is...it's bad."

"What is it?"

Abby pointed to the screen.

"His name is Justin Torrant. He doesn't have a driver's license anymore. It expired ten years ago and he never renewed it. That doesn't mean he's not driving, though. He hasn't had a credit card in ten years, either. He _has_ published a couple of very strange articles online."

"About what?" Tony asked.

"About how we need to wipe out the selkies that are in our midst to keep them from destroying the human race."

Tony couldn't help it. He laughed.

"What?"

"He says that the selkies are out to kill us."

Tony looked at the selkie.

"It is not true. We only kill to protect ourselves. There are too few of us to take on all human beings anyway. Lucky for you." He smiled slightly.

Tony grinned.

"Okay. Why is this such a big deal? He's clearly a nut."

"Because this _nut_ has been posting long diatribes about how he was going to force the scientific community to agree with him, how the whole world would be looking to him for help once he showed them incontrovertible proof that there are selkies. He was kicked out of a little college in Maine after he was suspected of killing a seal because he thought it was a selkie. They never got proof of it, but the college decided they'd had enough and he didn't have tenure. So out he went with a major chip on his shoulder and a need to prove himself."

"Oh."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence, but..."

"But this _is _a dangerous man," Ziva said. "But why would he go after McGee? There is no reason to suspect him. We are the only ones who know and we have said nothing to anyone."

"Except that McGee, in the past, at least, was swimming with seals," Tony said. "If this guy found out it was him, he might put two and two together."

"Does this tell us where he is?" Gibbs asked.

"No. He's been out of sight for years, Gibbs," Abby said. "That's why it took so long to find him. This was on some guy's blog that he wrote about how the Internet encourages crazy people to share their nutty ideas. The photo was from a local newspaper. It never got picked up by national news. I'm not sure how it got missed, but it was. So it was really obscure and there are so many records out there to search. Besides that, he's changed a bit over the years and the photo doesn't exactly match the description, but it's close enough. I don't like it, Gibbs. If this is why Tim's missing, he could be really in trouble."

Gibbs looked at the man on the screen. Then, he looked at the selkie. Then, back at the screen again.

"I'll check the BOLO, Boss," Tony said.

"Add this guy to it."

"Just in case," Tony muttered and left.

"There was nothing in Tim's apartment, Gibbs," Ziva said. "He was not taken from here."

"Then, we have to wait," the selkie said. "I would like to go outside. Is that permitted?"

Gibbs nodded and gestured. They left the lab. Abby and Ziva looked at each other and then, Abby hugged Ziva tightly.

"I'm really worried, Ziva. I don't like where this could be going."

"I do not, either, but at least, we know and we can look."

Abby nodded.

It wasn't much, but it was something.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim could feel the blood on his wrists. He had rubbed them raw trying to turn his hands around in the ties. Finally, after a lot of effort, he thought he might be getting somewhere with it. The blood was making it slick back there. It hurt like the dickens but it was doing something for him.

_Just as long as I don't accidentally slit my wrists._

"Come on. Come on," he whispered to himself as he struggled to get his arms to do what he wanted them to do.

Finally, his right hand was facing the desired direction.

One hand down. One more to go.

He started trying to twist his left hand.

It really hurt.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Gibbs was just coming in from leading the selkie outside when Tony jumped up from his desk.

"Boss, we got a hit on the BOLO! Police found McGee's car parked in a beach parking lot south of Dover. Been sitting there for two days."

Gibbs nodded.

"Let's go."

"What about...him?" Tony asked.

Gibbs wasn't sure he _wanted_ to bring the selkie with him, but he also _was_ sure that he didn't want the selkie going off on his own. If he found Torrant before they did (and if Torrant was the one who had Tim), Torrant would very likely end up dead. While Gibbs might understand and even approve of that, he knew that he shouldn't let it happen.

"Get the car. I'll get him."

Tony nodded and looked relieved.

Gibbs walked back out and looked around. The selkie was standing by the river. Standing as he was, he seemed larger than life, somehow very different from the human beings he superficially resembled. Right at this moment, Gibbs couldn't see how anyone would miss that he was different. And yet, Tim's otherness had been dramatically tempered. How much of it was because of his human mother and how much was simply because he'd been forced to change himself to survive in the human world? If this confidence was something that should be innate, Gibbs was sorry it had been lost.

Putting that aside for the time being, Gibbs lengthened his stride. He didn't want to call out because he couldn't use a name and just yelling out "Hey!" seemed wrong.

The selkie turned toward him, looking as alien as ever.

"They found Tim's car near Dover."

"Is this nearby?"

Right. Names didn't mean anything to him.

"It's a couple of hours away. We're going to check it out. Are you coming?"

"You will permit this?"

"Yes."

"Why would you? It does not seem normal for you to bring a stranger along."

"It's not, but I don't want you getting there ahead of us."

The selkie smiled and nodded.

"I will come with you. Perhaps, if we are closer, I will be able to feel the one called my son."

Tony pulled around to the front in the car. He got out and waved at Gibbs to get his attention.

"What will you do if you find who took him?" the selkie asked.

"Arrest him unless he forces us to kill him."

"Will this stop him?"

"It should."

"It would be simpler just to kill him to stop him. If he is willing to kill, why allow him the possibility of doing it again?"

"We have laws."

The selkie didn't respond. When they reached the car, Gibbs was surprised at how smoothly the selkie got into the back seat. He supposed that the selkie must have had some experience with cars if he was able to get all the way down here...or maybe not. Maybe he'd just swum all the way. Regardless, he knew what a car was and how it worked. Gibbs got in the driver's seat.

"I told Ducky about what happened," Ziva said. "He said he would wait for Jimmy to get there and they'd follow us out there. Just in case."

"I hope we don't need them," Tony said.

_Amen_, Gibbs thought.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

At this point, Tim could feel the blood through his boxers. The blood from his chafed wrists had run down his back to the only clothing he had. The only comfort was that he'd almost got his left arm turned around.

One. More. Twist.

Tim had to clench his teeth to keep from expressing his pain. He couldn't see his captor, but that didn't mean he'd left the building completely. He could still be around, just out of sight.

Finally, he got it. His palms were now facing each other. That was no guarantee of success, but it was better than he'd had before. He rolled onto his back and looked around again. He wasn't sure if he should start trying to get his arms around his legs. If he got stuck halfway, he would _really_ be in a vulnerable state.

He heard a commotion and he stopped moving. He tried to hide his bloody wrists behind his back. No sense in making it obvious that he was trying to get away, although the man would really be around the bend if he didn't consider that a possibility.

Then, he heard noise from the other side of the space. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear it. He waited for his captor to reappear.

He wasn't disappointed. Well, he _was_ disappointed, but he wasn't wrong.

His captor came into view and he had that same unstable look he'd had before. It was almost funny that he could be right about the existence of selkies and yet so incredibly _wrong_ about what that meant. Tim still had no intention of sharing anything, but he _was_ a little worried about how much further his captor would go.

"You are going to tell me what I want to know," he said and pulled out a lighter. "I won't take no for an answer."

Tim met his gaze.

"No," he said.

"Then, you're going to pay for sacrificing our species for another."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

It was Tim's car. It had been left for two days in a parking lot at a beach. After two days, there was nothing on the beach to indicate what had happened. Still, they were investigating.

The selkie had wandered away from the car, to the sea. He seemed to be enjoying the water. Tony looked at him for a moment and then at Gibbs who shrugged.

"This gives us a place to begin, Gibbs, but after two days, I am afraid that we should be moving faster than this," Ziva said. "Tim must be somewhere, hopefully, near here, but we do not know where."

"We have to start somewhere," Gibbs said.

Tony stared at Tim's car. Questions poured through his mind as he considered what they could do next. Why had Tim been abducted? Who had done it? If it was this guy who had been searching for the selkies, why take Tim? Did he think Tim was a selkie? What was he willing to do?

Suddenly, the selkie turned away from the sea and stared intently inland.

"Boss," Tony said. He pointed.

Gibbs followed his gesture and his eyes narrowed. He started toward the selkie. Tony was a little unsure about having the selkie with them. For one thing, he made Tony uncomfortable. It was a continual reminder of what Tim really was. This was Tim's father. For another, it was clear that, no matter how human he looked at the moment, this was not a human being. He had an outlook that was definitely alien.

Before Gibbs could get to him, the selkie started toward Gibbs. He stopped, gestured and then started to walk toward Tony and Ziva.

"What do you think has happened?" Ziva asked.

"I don't know," Tony said. "Something definitely has, though."

The selkie walked up.

"He is in pain. We must go."

"Where?" Tony asked.

The selkie pointed inland.

"There."

"That doesn't tell us where, though," Tony said.

"I can feel his pain. He is not far."

"Do we drive or walk?" Gibbs asked.

"Drive. It is faster."

"Okay. You're in the front seat," he said to the selkie.

Tony took his banishment to the back in good stead. If it got them to Tim faster, he'd ride in the trunk. They jumped into the car and Gibbs started driving. The selkie began giving directions, but they weren't the best for navigating a car. He kept telling Gibbs to go through a block because the other side was where they needed to be and that meant that Gibbs had to take those few extra seconds to figure out what the selkie meant.

After a few minutes, the selkie gestured for Gibbs to stop, and then, he was out of the car and moving.

Very quickly.

Tony hadn't realized just _how_ fast the selkie would be. After all, seals weren't all that agile on land. In fact, they looked downright clumsy. However, the selkie was _not_ clumsy at the moment. He was fast.

They all had to get out and run after him, but he was leaving them behind. If they didn't keep up, Tony was sure that the selkie would kill the man who had Tim.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

"That hurt, didn't it," the man said.

Tim refused to dignify the statement with an answer.

"That was only the beginning. Yes, it's hot, painful, but not hot enough."

The brand was still smoking a little, and Tim was shaking.

"Are you familiar with Nathaniel Hawthorne?"

"We've lost touch over the years," Tim ground out.

The man's face grew angry again.

"Do _not_ mock me!"

"Why? What have you done that deserves respect?" Tim asked, sitting up. He started trying to maneuver himself around so that he could make a move if the opportunity presented itself. "You've abducted me for no reason. You've tied me up. You've threatened me. You've beat me up. Now, you're going to do what? Brand me like I'm some kind of animal? All because you claim to be wanting to help. That's a load of crap and you know it. Somewhere inside that little bitty pea brain, you know that all you want is fame. All you want is to be able to say _I told you so_ to the people who kicked you to the curb. There's no altruism. You're willing to kill me just because I won't give you what you want. You think you're a hero? You're no hero. You're the villain and you deserve everything that's been heaped on you. Whatever you do to me, I hope you rot."

Then, the man was close. His legs were right there. The hot branding iron, in the shape of a T, was in his hand. Hot, acrid-smelling...and close enough that if the man dropped it, Tim might be able to get his legs to it. A few burns would be worth getting free.

He leaned back and then kicked as hard as he could. The man dropped the iron and fell to the floor. Quickly, Tim kicked again and got the man in the face. He fell back and didn't move.

Not willing to chance that state lasting. Tim swung his legs around to the iron. He lowered the tie around his ankles to the iron. It took a few tries and a few burns, but he got his legs free. Then, he pulled and stretched his arms as much as he could and slipped his arms around his legs, bringing his restrained and bloody wrists to the front of his body. He leaned over and got the plastic ties on the iron. They snapped off.

Free!

Quickly, Tim got to his feet and staggered. He'd been restrained and on the floor for nearly two full days.

It took too much precious time to adjust to standing upright. The man came awake and lunged at him, getting his arms around Tim's legs and forcing Tim back to the floor.

Tim hit the floor hard. It knocked the wind out of him and as he gasped for breath, the man got the upper hand.

"I'm going to kill you," he said.

Tim felt the gun at his head and was sure this was it.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Suddenly, a door that Tim hadn't noticed before burst open and there was his team. He smiled at them, relieved that they'd found him, that it hadn't been necessary to bring a selkie into this.

"Federal agents! Let him go, Torrant," Gibbs said.

"Hey, Boss," Tim said, trying to act like this was all no big deal.

"Shut up!" Torrant shouted. "He's not going anywhere until he helps me!"

"Helps you what?" Tony asked.

"He knows where the selkies are and he's going to tell me!"

"I'd rather stick a needle in your eye," Tim said.

"You're going to tell me what I want to know!" Torrant yelled.

Tim would try to pull away, but with how unstable this guy was, he wasn't sure he'd survive the attempt, and he really wanted to survive this.

Then, he thought he felt something. Some_one_ close by. His eyes widened and he looked at Gibbs. He couldn't see the source of what he felt. He asked Gibbs silently if he was right.

Could it really be–?

"You are looking for a selkie? You may find one sooner than you think."

Suddenly, Tim was ripped away from the man and thrown to the floor. He rolled a couple of times, ran into something hard, and lay where he was, in a daze. He heard a lot of noise, but his brain seemed to have temporarily turned to mush and he couldn't think straight.

Then, a word broke through.

"Stop!"

That word was followed by others, and while Tim still felt unable to move, he could hear the words.

"Don't do this."

"My way would be much better." The voice was calm, unemotional. "He will never hurt anyone again. Does that not make more sense?"

"We have to arrest him. Let him go. We won't let him escape."

"And if he tries, we _will_ kill him. You understand?"

Tim thought about moving, but his body seemed unwilling to listen to his brain for the moment. He was stuck, facing away from the action, which was really unfortunate. He wanted to know what was going on. All he had were voices.

"Very well. I will let him go."

Then, he could hear movement.

And someone was beside him.

"Tim? Are you all right?"

He was rolled onto his back and he blinked a few times at Tony.

"Hey. I feel weird," he said. "My brain is all mushy."

Tony laughed a little.

"Guess your old man is tougher than you thought. I thought he was going to throw you right out of the building."

"Yeah."

He lay there for a few moments. Then, there was something he really wanted to say.

"Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss the ocean. I miss the water. I miss...belonging there."

Tony didn't reply, but Tim felt too tired to carry on the conversation any longer anyway. He closed his eyes.

"Ducky! Over here!"

"Wha–?" Tim started to ask.

Then, there was a flash of light in one eye and the other.

"Yes, I do think he may have a concussion. Timothy, can you sit up?"

"No. Do I have to?"

"Mr. Palmer, if you would be so good?"

No words, but hands were lifting him up. Tim tried not to lean back on the person that must be Jimmy, but he couldn't stay upright on his own.

Tim lifted his hand toward his head, but stopped and was surprised at it. It was just a regular hand. Why? He waved it in the air a few times.

"Timothy? What happened to your wrists?"

"My hand looks weird," Tim said. That wasn't what he'd planned on saying, but that was what came out. "Don't you think it looks weird?"

"I think we should get him to a hospital for evaluation," Ducky said. "Some of it could simply be shock, but he could also have a serious head injury."

"Dr. Mallard, do you see this?"

"Yes, I do, Mr. Palmer."

Tim tried to get his head around, but it wouldn't listen to him, either. It just flopped around, limply.

"I'm sorry, Jimmy. I really am. I can't even say how sorry I am, especially because I know you're not okay with it. But I'm really, really sorry."

"It's okay, Tim."

"That's what you said before, but it wasn't true," Tim mumbled.

"Later, Timothy."

Then, there was another set of hands on him. These hands were different. He recognized them. He tried to focus on the dark, shining eyes in front of him.

"You will heal. When you heal, you will tell me."

"I want to find my mother," Tim said, feeling like that was the most important thing. He tried to get up. "That's what I was trying to do. I need to..."

Strong arms held him down. "You will speak to me when you are well. We will talk. He is not dead, and I must now leave."

The eyes disappeared, leaving Tim staring into empty space. He wanted to protest, but he found it impossible to say anything. He felt the presence fade away.

"Timothy, we're going to get you to the hospital. All you need to do is relax."

"I hurt, Ducky," Tim said.

"That doesn't surprise me. We'll see what we can do for you."

"Okay."

Tim didn't bother trying to get up again. He just lay where he was until there were people picking him up and putting him on a stretcher. His mind was starting to clear a little bit, just a little. He looked around and saw Gibbs.

"Boss, I'm sorry I'm so...out of it," he said. "I know you have questions. I can try to answer...now...or whatever."

Gibbs walked over.

"Don't worry about it, McGee. Later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Tim let himself be carted away and, as soon as they let him, he fell asleep, glad that his ordeal was over.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Jimmy was sitting beside Ducky, waiting to see Tim wake up and be back in his right mind. He looked at Tim. It was obvious that he'd gone through a lot, even if he hadn't been able to explain it before. His wrists had been bleeding profusely. In fact, he'd had stitches in some places. There had been quite a bit of bruising on his legs. Then, there was the part he couldn't see right now. Tim had been burned. The only reason Jimmy wasn't saying he'd been branded was because the burn hadn't been quite bad enough. The shape was obvious, though.

What Jimmy couldn't get over, though, was that, while lying on the floor of that shed, Tim had tried to apologize again. In the midst of all that, he had still wanted to apologize. That made Jimmy feel awful. He knew that he'd had trouble getting past it. He knew that Tim knew it. And he'd simply avoided the situation, rather than deal with it head on.

"Mr. Palmer, you don't have to wait if you don't want to. I can stay here myself," Ducky said in a low voice.

Jimmy just shook his head and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Jimmy, you needn't feel guilty."

"Yeah, I do," Jimmy said. "Tim wanted all this to be done, but I wouldn't let it."

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, lad. What Timothy did was shocking to you, and it would be hard to get over. Timothy knows that. He doesn't want to push."

"Yeah, but that's the problem, Dr. Mallard." Jimmy sat up and looked at him. "He's doing everything right, but people still think he's off his rocker. They don't know what happened, and they don't know why. So it kind of makes sense that they'd think that. Tim doesn't blame them, either. But I _know_ what happened and why. I _know_ that there was no possible way that he could have hurt me with that gun."

"But at the time, you didn't."

Jimmy shook his head.

"I just can't get past it, and I know I should. ...and you look at him right now and..."

Ducky laughed softly. "His current state has nothing to do with you, Mr. Palmer. Nothing at all."

"I know that, but he tried to apologize again. All that stuff must have hurt, but he still focused on apologizing."

"He may not even _remember_ apologizing. He has a concussion and that can interfere with short-term memory. Mr. Palmer, at the end of the day, forgiveness can't depend on guilt. You can't expect to truly forgive Timothy simply because you regret what happened to him."

"Am I late?" Tim mumbled.

"No, Timothy. You're not late."

Tim tried to open his eyes, but it was clear that it was a struggle.

"What happened?"

"What do you remember?" Ducky asked.

Tim's eyes opened slightly and then closed again.

"That crazy guy. He kept trying to make me tell him where the selkies were. He was going to kill them. I know he was. I couldn't...let that happen and...I was trying to get away and..."

"You did, it appears."

"No...he had a gun."

"Yes, that's true, but you were apparently trying to escape when the MCRT arrived."

Tim grimaced, still with his eyes closed.

"Man, I hurt."

"As well you should. What happened to your wrists?"

"He had...plastic ties. I was trying to maneuver around so that... I could... get away."

"And you did."

"It hurt."

"I'm sure."

"He didn't get away, did he?"

"No."

Finally, Tim got his eyes open. He looked at Ducky, first, but then, his eyes slid to Jimmy. Then, they closed again. Then, he got them open once more and he looked at Ducky again.

"I thought...I saw my father?"

"Yes. He was there."

"He said something to me...or something...I think."

"Yes, he did. Right now, Timothy, all you need to think about is yourself. Just relax enough to let yourself heal."

"Okay." Tim's eyes closed and he was out again.

Ducky smiled and then looked at Jimmy again. "As you can see, Mr. Palmer, Timothy will recover. If you truly want things to change, then, when he is more aware, you will have to _do_ something about it. Forgiveness is not required. Timothy obviously wants it, but he cannot force you to it, and he hasn't. You will have to decide what you want to do."

Jimmy nodded, but he didn't really feel any better about it.

Still, it wasn't like there was really anything he could do about it right now. He just had to wait.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Gibbs knew that they all wanted to go and check on Tim, in spite of the fact that Ducky had called them and let them know that he would be all right. However, they had to get Torrant taken care of. He was still ranting about how they were letting the human race get destroyed, how Tim was the biggest traitor of them all because he _knew_ and yet he refused to do anything about it, how he'd show them all.

In short, Gibbs was beginning to wish that he _had_ let Tim's father kill the guy. It had been close. They hadn't been ready for the selkie to come up from behind. How he'd done it was still a mystery, but it had been effective, even if he'd thrown Tim clear a little too vigorously. Tim had hit the floor hard and then had rolled right into a metal divider. It was a toss up as to which impact had caused his concussion.

As he watched Torrant continue his rant in Interrogation, he couldn't help but think about how emotionless the selkie had been all through it. Even when he'd been about to kill Torrant, he hadn't been angry. To him, it just made the most sense; so why not do it? It wasn't an act. It was reality. They just lived that way.

"Well, Boss?" Tony asked from behind.

"His lawyer get here?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure the public defender really wants to go in there."

Gibbs smiled a little.

"I don't blame him."

"How much longer do we have to stay?"

"Until we're done, DiNozzo. Tim will still be there."

"I know. I just don't like him being left in the hospital."

"He's not alone. Ducky's staying until his family gets there."

"I know."

Yeah. They all knew. They just wanted to be there. It was nearly two hours to the hospital in Dover. Tim had been in a bad way, even if his injuries hadn't been life-threatening. There was nothing like actually _seeing_ someone to verify that he was really all right.

"You'll get there. We're not letting this guy get away."

"Not a chance."


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Tim woke up for what he thought was the third time, maybe the fourth. He wasn't _quite_ sure about that, but he was pretty sure. The hospital people had made sure he'd been able to answer random questions. They were keeping him overnight, if he remembered correctly, but that was just a precaution. He was feeling a little less loopy now, and that was a good thing.

He opened his eyes and was immediately enveloped in a hug. He smiled and hugged back.

"Hi, Mom," he whispered.

"Oh, Tim. You have no idea how worried we were when Agent Gibbs called us."

Tim pulled back and saw his adoptive parents there. No matter what, they were truly family. He would never think of them as substitutes. What he'd had with the selkies was completely different from this.

"I'm all right," he said. "Or I will be in no time."

"What happened?" his dad asked. "Agent Gibbs wasn't very forthcoming."

"A guy thought I could tell him where the selkies are. Since I wouldn't, he was going to kill me."

He watched as his parents exchanged significant glances. Tim had long since given up on telling them the truth. He just didn't think they could believe him, and it wasn't their fault. The human world wasn't as accepting of supernatural things. He hadn't ever lied about it. He just hadn't talked about it.

"Tim..."

"Don't worry about it, Mom," Tim said. "They got him and that's what matters."

"Except that you're trying to change the subject," Justin said, seriously. "You only do that when you don't want to talk about it."

"Or when it's something you don't think we'll believe."

Tim smiled.

"Nothing wrong with that."

"With what?" Leanna asked. "Us not believing or you not telling?"

"Either."

Leanna sat down on the bed and looked at him seriously.

"Tim, something happened three months ago, something that had your team worried sick about you, something that had you acting so strangely that they called us to try and get help. Since then, you've admitted to feeling off balance about things, and then, just a couple of weeks ago, you told me you were going to look for your birth mother to help that. You know where you come from."

"Yes, I do."

"Why won't you tell us?"

"Because you won't believe it. You'll just think that I'm crazy. I don't blame you, but there's no point in going through all that again. I love you, Mom, Dad. I love you all, and I don't want to lose that. Not ever. It's something I never had before you found me."

Justin sat on the other side of the bed and took hold of Tim's arm. He looked at the bandages on Tim's wrists.

"You were protecting someone with this, weren't you," he said softly.

Tim looked at his dad and then back at his wrists. Would he have struggled so much if he hadn't wanted to make sure that the selkies weren't put in harm's way? Probably not. He would have hoped for rescue, and he might even have tried to talk the guy out of it, but in this case, he had to do something. The selkies could die if he said something.

"You said you weren't human when we first found you. You didn't want to be human."

"Yeah, I did."

Tim didn't look at them. This was the last thing he'd expected. His human family had stopped asking, and he'd stopped talking. After all the years of ignoring it, Tim wasn't sure how to start talking about it again.

"Tim, you're never going to lose us. If we didn't lose you all through those first years, you're not going to lose us, now. Say it."

Tim looked up at Justin and then, at Leanna.

"I've never not known who I was," he said, slowly. "I've always known my past, but it's not a past that people can accept."

"You're not a child anymore, Tim," Leanna said. "You're not a scared teenager. You're an adult with a stable job, friends and a family who loves you. Tell us, whether you think we'll believe it or not."

"I'm not human. I'm a selkie, only when you found me, my seal skin had been stolen." Tim swallowed and looked away. Even now, the anguish that he had felt was too real, too near to him to talk about in detail. "She did it to punish the selkies for taking her son away. The selkies don't want to be discovered. They can't be because of how human beings would react to them. So they have rules. One is that, if your skin is lost or stolen, you have to be left behind. A human following the seals would be too obvious."

He glanced back at them and then away before he could really see how they felt about what he was saying.

"You know about my life after that. Three months ago, the woman who stole it from me turned up dead. When I saw her, I thought that I could get myself back, that I could be whole again for the first time in so long. Then, I remembered another rule. If you make human ties, you have to leave them when you go back. I would have to give up everything. I would have to give up you and Sarah and my job and my friends. Everything. I would have to give up feeling emotions or at least, expecting them from others. Selkies don't have emotions like humans do. But getting my skin back is more than just something I wanted. It was an instinct that I almost couldn't resist. So I did the only thing I could think of. There was another selkie whose skin was there. I took it from NCIS and I took it to the beach, but I made sure that my team would see me and follow me. The only way to make this work would be to have them _see_ what was real."

"They know?" Leanna asked.

"Yes. They know. They've seen and they know it's true."

"What have they seen?"

"Seals becoming humans. Humans becoming seals. They've seen both. It was a risk. It's not allowed, but it happened. It was so hard to fight against all that was telling me to go back to the sea, but I couldn't give up what I had on land. But I couldn't manage knowing that my skin was there. I couldn't resist. So...my friends helped me destroy it."

"Destroy it? Why?"

"So that I could always stay here. It hurt. A lot. They burned it, and I felt it. But it was what I had to do to stay. And it's not been easy. I don't feel quite right, but I'm trying because I've given up the only chance I had to go back to the sea...so that I could stay here."

Tim finally ran out of words. He stared at his bandaged wrists, not daring to find out what expression was on his parents' faces.

There was a long period of silence where Tim didn't dare look up, and no one said anything.

There were so many other things he could say, so many moments, so many events, so many times when he'd wanted nothing more than to give up trying to navigate through this life that held so much pain. But he couldn't think of the words to describe it, and his head ached and his chest hurt, and he was tired.

So he just lay there on the bed and waited.

Then, as had happened all those years ago on the beach, gentle arms hugged him and rocked him.

"Tim, I don't know about all of that, but I do know that I love you, and I know that there's something about you that has always been different. If this is the truth, it doesn't change a thing. You will never lose us. Never."

Tim hugged Leanna back and relaxed a little bit. He might have hoped that they would just whole-heartedly believe what he'd said, but they weren't rejecting it and they weren't rejecting him. That mattered.

"You look tired. Why don't you try to sleep some more and we'll stay here."

Tim nodded.

"Don't let me go," he whispered.

"I won't."

Tim let his exhaustion take over and he fell asleep, feeling the comfort of Leanna's arms around him.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

He heard them talking, whispering about what might have happened to Tim, why he wasn't at work, whether or not he'd finally just been fired to keep the rest of them safe and so on and so on. It was nothing he hadn't heard before. Usually, he just ignored it and hoped it would go away...or at least that he wouldn't have to hear it.

But not today.

Today, Jimmy heard the words and they made him angry because they had no reason to be upset with Tim. They had no reason to wish him ill. Jimmy's own struggle with all this was somehow cheapened by the callous disregard for what Tim had gone through.

"Okay. Knock it off," he said.

"Knock what off, Jimmy?"

He glared at the little group.

"You know nothing about what happened. You have no reason to act like Tim is the bad guy. The only people who might have justification are me and Abby, and we don't. So maybe you should try thinking about the fact that you just don't know what's going on. Instead of treating Tim like a leper, you could try realizing that something went really wrong for him that day, and instead of having anyone's support in everything he's dealt with since then, all he has are mean-spirited comments and suspicious glances that he doesn't deserve!"

"Then, what happened?"

"It's none of your business! None! If it were, you would know about it. Since you don't, stop acting like idiotic children and be adults! Abby showed me the note that someone left him and that's way out of line. I don't know if one of you did it. I don't care _who_ did it. Leave Tim alone! You have no idea what he gave up just to stay here, because he wanted to work here with people he thought were his friends! So just stop it!"

Then, he turned on his heel and walked away, stewing about the whole situation. He didn't want Tim to have to deal with that stuff, especially when he was still recovering from the abduction. Scuttlebutt would trickle down to everyone as it always did, but Jimmy didn't want to help it along. He hoped that they would start talking about what he'd just said and maybe things would ease off a bit.

Then, maybe he could think about how _he_ felt about everything without the added pressure of having to hold off the others in the building.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

_Two days later..._

Tim was glad to be in normal clothes, thrilled to checking out of the hospital, and relieved that there had been no permanent damage. He'd been kept in the hospital after they'd found some swelling from the concussion. Better safe than sorry was the phrase he'd heard a few times. He'd been safe and now, he could go home and hopefully, not be sorry about it.

He figured that he was in for a lecture from Gibbs about some such thing or another. He even thought that he might almost deserve it. He figured that he'd be watched like a hawk for a while, until they all relaxed again...

"Again?" Tim whispered, scoffing at his own thoughts. "They've never been relaxed at all."

That thought made him sigh and he looked around the hospital room. Then, he looked at his wrists. There were about fifteen stitches all told. He'd done a really good job of cutting into his own skin with the plastic ties. Then, he lifted his shirt and stared at the burn. He traced the outline of it. It hadn't been too serious as far as burns went, but it had blistered a little bit and he'd been warned that it would start to itch once it began to heal. He had to watch out for infection, too. That wasn't what bothered him.

It was the reason for it that still gave him the shivers.

It was a T.

T for traitor. Instead of a scarlet A, there was a red T burned into his chest. The doctors had promised that, as long as he took care of it, there would likely be almost no scarring. It was just that he knew he'd dodged a bullet in not getting the full brand that had been threatened.

Suddenly, he heard someone clearing his throat. He looked up and quickly lowered his shirt. No sense in showing off that someone thought he was a traitor. It didn't even matter that it wasn't true. It was still disturbing.

"Hi..." Tim said, awkwardly.

"Hi," Jimmy said, just as awkwardly.

"I...expected someone else to...be here."

"Who else?"

"Anyone but you, to be honest," Tim said.

Jimmy shuffled his feet.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"So...why are you here?"

"To maybe...talk a little."

"Here?"

Jimmy finally smiled a little.

"Not unless you want to stay in the hospital for fun."

"Not a chance. I'm ready to leave."

They left the hospital together and Jimmy started driving them back to DC. After a few minutes, Jimmy pulled off.

At a beach.

"You mind?" Jimmy asked.

"No. I never mind being at a beach."

Jimmy turned off the car and they both got out. They walked to the sand and Tim sat down. He pulled off his shoes and socks and dug his toes into the sand. For a little while, he just stared out at the ocean, feeling anew that same aching sadness that would never completely go away. ...but since he wasn't alone here, he decided to pull his attention away from the water and back onto Jimmy.

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I wanted to say I'm sorry, first of all."

Tim laughed, mostly out of surprise. "What in the world do _you_ have to be sorry about? I'm the one who messed things up, not you."

"But I let them stay messed up. You apologized. I said I accepted it."

"But you really didn't. It's okay. I threatened you when all you were doing was being concerned," Tim said. "I was acting crazy. I probably _was_ a little crazy that day. It's okay if you're not ready to let that go. Don't get me wrong. I do wish it wasn't like that, but it's okay."

"No, it's not," Jimmy said, earnestly. "It's not because you were lying on the floor with a concussion, with your wrists bleeding, with a big burn on your chest and the first thing you said to me was that you were sorry."

"Did I?" Tim asked. A lot of that time in the shed was a little bit fuzzy to him.

"You don't remember."

"Not really...but since I always want to apologize when I see you, that doesn't really surprise me. I didn't say the words because I'd already said them, but I've wondered if saying them again would help."

"Probably not," Jimmy said. "I had to figure out how I felt about everything and I didn't really take much time to do that."

"And now, you have?"

"Well, I've started. Did you really regret it?"

"Yes," Tim said, easily. That was the easiest question to answer. "I regretted it when I was planning. I regretted it while I was doing it, and I regretted it afterward. I regret it, now. I didn't want to hurt you. That's why the gun wasn't loaded. I was afraid that I was too unstable to keep my finger off the trigger. I might slip and hurt someone. I didn't want that to happen."

"But you still threatened me."

"Yes, I did," Tim said. "Everything I did that day was desperation. Everything. I just..." Tim looked out at the ocean again. "I wish I could describe how I felt that day, but I can't. There aren't any words for it. There are no words for how it felt to try and resist the strongest urge I'd ever felt when I didn't even know if it was worth resisting. That's why I could face the possibility of dying along with my skin when you guys burned it. It was better to risk that than to have to feel that for the rest of my life."

There was a long silence as they both looked at the waves as they washed ashore.

"And now?" Jimmy asked, quietly.

"Now, right at this moment, I'm wondering if it was worth it. I want to go back, but I made that impossible, and usually, that's okay."

"Worth it?"

"I don't know. It was the only way I could keep what I found on land. Was it worth it? I don't know." Tim took another breath and looked at Jimmy again. "Was it worth what I did to you and to Abby? I swear, Jimmy, that if I could have thought of something else, I would have done that rather than threaten you. I just couldn't, not without losing what made this life bearable. It was selfish, but it really was all I could think of."

Jimmy looked at him and then looked back at the ocean.

"You see something different than I do when you look at the water."

"Probably," Tim said. "It's my home, but it's a home I've given up and I can never go back there."

"What if you could? Would you?"

Tim laughed a little. "I don't know. I don't like to think about it. Life is hard enough without dwelling on something impossible."

"Yeah."

They sat on the beach in silence for a while longer.

"You're not asking me," Jimmy said.

"It's not up to me," Tim said. "It's up to you. I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything."

"But I do."

"No, you don't. I want this to be better than it is, but if you're not feeling it, it doesn't matter. As the injured party, you set the terms. I'm the injurer. I don't get to."

"You know...you're not making this easy."

"I'm trying to."

Jimmy laughed. "Yeah, I know. That's why it's not easy."

Tim smiled. "Jimmy, whatever you decide, I'll have to live with it. That's my life."

"I wanted to say that I'm over it, but I'll admit it. I'm not."

"That's okay."

"It's not okay, and I'm really going to work on it."

"If you need me to do something, you can tell me. I'll try," Tim said.

"Thanks."

Without needing to say anything more, they both got up. Tim put back on his shoes and socks and then, Jimmy drove him home.


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_Two days later..._

Tim took a breath and stared up at the building. He really wanted to be back at work, but at the same time, he wished there was something else he could do to feel right. This was the most right he felt anywhere in the world, and knowing that the majority of people in the building didn't like him being there was really hard. The time away had only made it more obvious. Now, he was afraid that Vance would see that it was better without him and decide to fire him or move him somewhere else, away from many of the people who made living as a human being worth it.

He was early, he knew; so he turned away from the building and walked to the river. He sat there, staring at the water for a while, not really thinking about anything in particular, but letting his mind drift along with the current...back to the sea.

A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his contemplation.

"Second thoughts, Timothy?" Ducky asked and sat down beside him.

Tim looked at him a smiled.

"The same second thoughts I've had my whole life, Ducky. Just a little more pronounced right now."

"For any particular reason?"

The question came out before Tim was even aware he'd been thinking it.

"Am I a traitor?"

"To whom, lad?"

"Anyone. That's what he thought I was. He had the branding iron all ready for me. I don't even know where he got it or why he had it. Was it always something he wanted to use or was I just special?" Tim sighed. "I have no interest in betraying all human beings, but I betrayed some just a few months ago. I betrayed people I should never have betrayed. Or am I traitor to the selkies because I used them to get what I wanted when I asked them to reveal their existence to my friends so that I could stay here? Is it both? Is it neither? I just don't know. I feel so lost."

"You're not a traitor to anyone that I can think of, Timothy."

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're not. What you did certainly wasn't the best choice, but it was not done out of a desire to harm others but rather to help others."

"To help myself."

"_And_ another who was suffering. Was it the best way to go about things? No, I'd say it wasn't. Is it understandable? Certainly. And since the man who called you a traitor is flirting with a diagnosis of insanity, I don't think you should give him any power over you."

"They hate me in there, Ducky. So many of them hate me, and I don't know how to fix it. I don't know if I can take it, but there's nowhere else to go. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'll find that I can't be here and if I can't be here where do I go? I don't know where I'd go or what I'd do. This is the only life I have, the only life worth having."

"You're not going to have to go anywhere. Don't start planning for that kind of negative result."

Tim rubbed at his wrists and then stopped.

"I just wasn't ready for this to happen. Suddenly, I'm afraid of human beings again. The problem is that they're everywhere. I can't get away from them. And I don't really want to, but I do...and..."

"Timothy, give yourself a chance to recover. Don't start making decisions out of fear. Perhaps, you should wait to return to work."

Tim shook his head. "I want to be back, but I don't at the same time."

Ducky smiled.

"Take it slowly, lad. In fact, come in with me right now. We'll go inside together and that will tell people that you are accepted."

"That's taking it slowly?"

Ducky smiled and Tim found that he could smile in return.

"Yes, it is, because you're not facing it alone. Then, later, when you're ready, you can do that."

"Okay."

Tim took a deep breath and stood up. He walked into the building with Ducky and was surprised to see Jimmy there, looking like he'd been waiting for them. Tim raised an eyebrow. He hadn't really talked to Jimmy since he'd left the hospital.

"Mr. Palmer thought that he'd wait and accompany us inside," Ducky said.

"You don't have to do this," Tim said, softly.

"Yeah, I do," Jimmy said.

They rode the elevator up to the bullpen and got off together. Tim noticed that Jimmy stared hard at every person who happened to glance their way. He was definitely making a point. Tim appreciated it, but he didn't know that he felt he deserved it.

Still, he sat down at his desk and tried not to scratch at his wrists or his chest, both of which were itching. He didn't want to draw attention to his wounds.

Ducky and Jimmy stayed by his desk and talked about nothing for a few minutes. Then, for the first time in weeks, someone else came over to talk to him.

"Agent McGee, I heard about the guy who grabbed you. Sounds like a nut. You all right now?" Agent Lovitz asked.

Tim nodded mutely.

"Good. I'm glad."

Lovitz hadn't ever been particularly effusive in all the time that Tim had been at headquarters; so his presence actually meant more than someone else's might have. It was clear that he was making an effort to come over and talk when he wasn't really the kind of guy who chatted.

He didn't linger, either.

"Glad to have you back, McGee. Take it easy for a few days, get your sea legs, again."

He winked and headed back to his desk.

Again, Tim knew what he was doing, although, in this case, he didn't know why.

As soon as Tony and Ziva got there, Ducky and Jimmy went down to Autopsy.

All day, there were little moments like that. People who would just randomly come up to him and start talking. Not for a long time, but long enough that it was clear they weren't just saying hello and moving on. They weren't the ones who had been talking _about_ him, but they were people who just didn't normally come into the bullpen. Tim wondered what had started this. Who? Was it Jimmy? Tim didn't think that was likely. He supposed that Ducky could have done it, but he would have to be spending all morning telling people to come and that didn't seem likely. He was busy with actual work.

Gibbs gave Tim a light load throughout the day, but Tim was never completely alone in the bullpen. One of the team was always there with him. In the past, this would have been a source of worry or irritation, but Tim appreciated it, right now.

When the day ended, Tim left the building, but then, he waited. He had questions.

He saw Gibbs come out and he walked over.

"Boss?"

Gibbs paused and looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"Did you do this?"

"Do what?"

"Ask people to talk to me? And don't say that they just wanted to because, whether it was you or not, most of them never come into the bullpen."

"Yes."

"Why? Why now?"

"Because we got a deserved kick in the pants from your father when he was in Abby's lab."

"He was _here_? I knew that...he was with you, but...he came _here_?" Tim was flabbergasted. He'd never even considered the _possibility_ that his father would have risked coming to NCIS. Interacting with so many humans... It surprised him.

"Yes, and he pointed out that we could have been doing something to make things easier for you, and we all just figured it would go away on its own. It probably would, but this way will be faster and we could have been doing it all along."

"How did you do it?"

"Abby."

"Of course." Who else would have the guts to go around and ask people to randomly talk to him?

"And Jimmy."

"Really?"

"Yep. They went around and asked people they thought might be sympathetic."

"That's it?"

"There are more than you might think, McGee. Just because they didn't say anything doesn't mean that they didn't like you."

"Hard to know who thinks what."

"That's why we did something about that."

"Wow. Just for me?"

"For all of us, but yes, for you. You'd better get used to it. It'll keep going until the ones who need to see it get the point."

Tim felt his throat tighten and he couldn't speak. Gibbs gave him a light thump on the back.

"And, Tim, when you decide to contact your father, you make sure you don't go to the beach alone. Just for now."

Tim nodded, even though he wanted to ask what Gibbs thought the odds were that another person would be searching for selkies and be willing to kill to get to them. It had happened once. Better to be careful.

"Good."

Gibbs started off to his car.

"Thanks, Boss," Tim said, thickly.

Gibbs just nodded and kept going.

Tim stood where he was and felt a rush of gratitude for the unexpected support. After his worries this morning, to have people showing solidarity with him was bracing.

"Tim! You're still here!"

Abby came running out of the building and she hugged him tightly before Tim could fend her off.

"Ow! There's a burn there, Abbs!" Tim said, trying to hold her back.

Abby let him go instantly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tim! I forgot. Is it getting better?"

"Yeah, but when it's not itching, it's hurting. So no hugs for a while, okay?"

"Okay, but you'd better tell me right when you can have them again."

"I will. Promise."

"How are you feeling?"

"Overwhelmed. Abby, you and Jimmy didn't have to do all that for me."

"Yes, we did, because if we did it, then, people would really know that it's okay. It wouldn't mean as much if it was anyone else."

"But...Jimmy, he..."

"Tim, it was his idea."

"Gibbs didn't say that."

"Oh, Gibbs asked me to talk to some people, but Jimmy was in the lab when he asked, and he volunteered to help right away. He was the one who said we should go all over the building because the problems weren't just in one area. Gibbs wasn't going to bother to ask him."

"I wish there was some way to...repay all this, especially when I did what people think I did."

"No, you didn't," Abby said, firmly. "What people think you did is attack us because you went nuts. What you _really_ did was make some mistakes while you were trying to save one of your people and help yourself."

She gave him a side hug.

"We don't want you to go anywhere; so stay here, and we'll be happy."

"Thanks, Abby."

"We won't let you go."

Tim hugged her back. "I don't want to leave."

"Good."

They said their good-byes and Tim went back to his apartment. Jethro was happy to see him, but the dog wasn't nearly as excitable as he'd been when Tim first got him. He was getting past his prime and was all right with staying in for the night. Tim felt the need for some extra companionship; so he allowed Jethro onto his bed. The German Shepherd turned around a few times and then settled on the covers right beside Tim.

The day had started so uncertainly, but it had ended so well. People wanted him to stay.

For the first time in weeks, Tim felt more hopeful about staying at NCIS.


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

_One week later..._

"Tony, do you have any plans for tonight?" Tim asked as they left NCIS.

Tony raised an eyebrow and Tim smiled.

"Well, Tim, I thought you'd never ask."

"Very funny. I mean it."

"Depends. What do you need?"

"I need to go to the beach. Gibbs doesn't want me to go there alone. For now, it's better safe than sorry. I've already been sorry enough."

Tony nodded. "Sure. I can do that. Am I allowed to ask why you're going?"

"I need to contact my father. It's easier to do that in the water than it is on land."

Tim watched as Tony's slight discomfort at knowing what Tim was washed over his face and then vanished. Then, Tony grinned.

"Sure. Do I get to join hands and sing?"

"No. That will _not_ help."

"Shucks. I'll pick you up."

"Oh, you don't have to drive. I can drive."

Tony shook his head. "After seeing how wiped out you got from doing it before, I don't want to trust you driving."

Tim had to admit that it was a distinct possibility; so he didn't argue.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

When they got to the beach, Tim sat without moving. He just stared through the windshield at the waves.

"Uh...Probie?"

"Yeah?"

"You going to get out or is it just in the car?"

"I'm going to get out."

Tim didn't move.

"Uh...anytime soon?"

"Yeah."

He still didn't move.

"What's wrong?"

"I hate the feeling of touching the life I had but never getting it back."

"Do you regret giving it up, then?" Tony asked, sounding almost hesitant.

Tim didn't look at Tony. He just looked at the water.

"Yes. But I would have regretted leaving here, if that's what it had come to. I didn't want to leave and I didn't want to stay. I'm just pulled back and forth between the two places. The only reason I can stand it is because there's something worth having here...but I need to see how much more there is."

He took a breath and got out of the car. The beach was basically empty which was all the to the good. Tim wasn't planning on swimming this time. He just wanted some quiet as he tried to reach out to his father. He'd managed it while being held captive, but it had been really hard. First, he sat down in the sand and took off his shoes and socks. No sense in letting those get soaked.

Then, he walked out into the water, just a little ways, just enough for the waves to cover his feet and lap around his ankles before receding. He closed his eyes, secure in the knowledge that Tony was there and wouldn't let anything happen to him from the human world. He stretched his mind into that other frame, reaching out for the selkies, far away to the north of him. He felt himself start to shake as he searched for his father, preferably without touching any others. His father's mind was the most familiar to him; so he should recognize it easily.

Out and out... He wasn't sure if he'd make it. He was getting so tired.

Then, there it was. He found his father's mind and touched it just long enough to say that he was ready. He heard the acknowledgment; then, his exhaustion cut off the contact and he staggered backward out of the water.

His knees started to buckle and he fell.

...but he didn't make it to the sand.

Tony was right there behind him. He pulled him back, away from the water and then, carefully, eased him down until he was sitting on the beach.

"You all right, Tim?"

"I will be," Tim whispered.

He couldn't see anything at the moment. There were too many black spots in his vision. He breathed heavily and leaned on Tony for a while. He didn't know how long.

"What happened?"

"It's just hard to do it in this form. It's _possible_, but it's not easy. The farther away they are, the harder it is to find them. It takes a lot of energy. Wipes me out. I'll be okay in a little bit."

"Why do it?"

"Easier to make contact like this than to drive up and try to find the exact group of seals they're with."

A few more minutes.

"You feeling okay, now?"

"Yeah."

Tim sat up and was relieved to find that, when he blinked, he actually saw things. He was still tired (and glad that he wouldn't have to drive home), but he was conscious and coherent.

"Do you have to wait for him, here?"

"No. It'll take time to get down here. I just need to go home and go to bed. It'll take a couple of days."

Tim breathed deeply and then looked at Tony.

"Weirds you out, still, doesn't it."

"A little."

Tony got up and held out his hand. Tim let Tony help him up and then support him back to the car.

"But I'll get over it," Tony said. "I'm just glad that you want to stay here."

"I've got nowhere else to go."

"Sure, you do. You could hang out with your family. You could get a job somewhere else. You're good at the whole computer nerd thing."

Tim shook his head.

"That stuff has never been what kept me here. It was always the people, and you can't find the same people everywhere."

"We are unique. I'll give you that."

"Everyone is. No one is exactly the same, not seals, not humans, not selkies. We don't have names, but we know that each one is different. You've only met my father. There's one who almost never leaves the water. He doesn't like being on land one bit. There's another who loves to sing. There's one who came across the ocean to be here. That doesn't happen very often. He's different. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. My father can't tell the differences among humans very easily, but he can sense minds." Tim stopped talking abruptly and sighed a little.

"You miss them."

"Yes. They were... I can't call them family. That's not a concept that we have. I only learned it when I became trapped here. It's one of the wonderful and amazing things."

Tony was quiet for a moment, thinking about that.

"Is that why you want to find your mom so much?"

"Yeah. She's the first family I had, and she loved me so much that she gave me up. She didn't want to, but she did it anyway. Even if she doesn't want anything more to do with me, knowing my story is something that I want. If that's not what she wants, then, at least, I'll know."

They both got into the car and Tony started driving them back to DC. Tim leaned back and closed his eyes. Tony let him be quiet, and Tim actually fell asleep on the way.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tony pulled up at Tim's apartment. Tim didn't wake up.

For a second, Tony just looked at him, trying to see that same otherworldly quality that Tim's father had, but he couldn't. He really couldn't see it. He wondered if it was all gone or if Tim just hid it really well. Was Tim himself even aware of how obvious it was that his father was another species? Maybe, maybe not. Tim tended not to bring up his selkie side. He wanted things to be normal again.

But why did normal have to be Tim suppressing who and what he was like he had before? Why couldn't normal just be acknowledging that Tim was different and that it didn't matter? Of course, they didn't want to just talk about it like it didn't matter who knew, but they could at least be willing to _think_ about Tim as still being the same guy he was. What had changed was how much they knew about him.

It was worth a shot, anyway.

"Hey, McGee. You're home."

Tim woke up and looked around blearily.

"You going to make it back to your place?"

Tim smiled, yawned, and nodded.

"I'll be fine, Tony. Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime."

Tim looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Really."

"Thanks, Tony."

Tim got out of the car and headed inside. Tony waited until he saw a light come on in Tim's apartment. Then, he drove home.

The deliberate interactions with Tim had continued through the week and they _would_ continue until Gibbs was satisfied that the people at NCIS had got the message.

Tim wasn't going anywhere, and he deserved to be there.

Even if he was a selkie, Tony wasn't going to let him get pushed out. No matter what.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim let Jethro off the leash and smiled sadly as his dog loped slowly around the park. Funny how a dog he hadn't even wanted could now be so much a part of his life. He was getting old, though. He wasn't decrepit by any means, just slowing down a little. Tim would be sad when Jethro died, but that was the way life went. Joy and pain. Happiness and sorrow. Human life was a continual roller coaster ride through emotions. Some were positive. Others, negative. All, a requisite for being human.

"This is yours?"

Tim looked over and nodded.

"Yes. Abby gave him to me. He reminds me of the seals."

His father sat beside him.

"He is intelligent?"

"To a degree. He's good company. He doesn't ask questions. He just takes what I can give and gives back. He's an old dog, though."

"Ah. So he will die."

"Yes. I don't know when, of course, but he will."

"I see."

"Was there a problem with coming?"

"They are not happy, but they are satisfied that I am being cautious, and they acknowledge that this situation has never occurred before and cannot fit within the rules as they are."

Tim nodded.

"What is it?"

"I still want to find my mother."

"Yes. You said before."

"Did I?"

"Yes. I am sorry for how hard I threw you. I did not take the time to check the surroundings."

"It's okay. I'm pretty much recovered. Gibbs has been giving me time."

"I am also sorry that you had to suffer to protect us."

"It was me, too, you know. Just because I can't change doesn't mean I'm not a selkie."

"But he would never have known that. Like many humans, he accepted only what he could see. Is he still not free?"

"No. He'll probably get an insanity plea, but he'll be held because he's shown a propensity for violence."

"I hope that it will do what it should. Our way would have been better."

Tim shrugged. Part of him agreed. Part didn't.

"You wish to find your mother," he said, getting back to the original question. "How?"

Jethro came back and sniffed at the selkie.

"Jethro, this is my father. What do you think?"

Jethro kept sniffing and the selkie patted his head gently. Finally, Jethro whuffled at him and then settled beside Tim. He started to drool on Tim's knee while Tim petted him.

"Yes. I see a seal in him, too. A friend, I think you would say."

"Yeah."

"He is a good dog."

The selkie patted Jethro once more and then gestured for Tim to speak.

"I have two questions," Tim said. "First, could you describe what my mother looked like?"

"Only as she was when I saw her. It has been a long time."

"Second, would you be willing and able to show me the beach where she was?"

The selkie cocked his head to the side and was silent.

"There are too many places to search without being able to narrow it down. You're the only one who knows where she was. Maybe she's still there, but even if she isn't, I might be able to find her that way."

"I could do that, but not for a long time. It would have to be a short time. I have been away from the herd too much already."

Tim nodded.

"I understand."

"Then, we should go."

"What? You mean _now_?"

"Yes. Why should we wait?"

"I have work in the morning. It's not the weekend yet."

"Ask."

"I've already taken so much time off..." Tim said, but he was weakening. He really wanted to get started on this if he could. It was really something he wanted.

"Ask. If it is not possible, he will say no."

Tim hesitated for a moment more and then pulled out his phone. He wasn't sure about it, but he decided to try. He dialed Gibbs' number and waited.

"_Gibbs."_

"Hey...Boss."

"_What is it, McGee?"_

He sounded almost resigned. A bad start.

"Well...I was hoping I could take the next couple of days off."

"_What for?"_

"So that my father could take me to where my mother was."

"_What?"_

"He can show me the right beach."

"_Why now?"_

"Because he doesn't have a whole lot of time before he needs to be back. It's not exactly normal, what he's doing now."

There was a long silence.

"If the answer is no, then, I'll be at work tomorrow. I'm not going to take off. I promise. I'll wait."

"_You're going by yourself?"_

"No. With my father. He's going with me. I'd leave Jethro with you, if you don't mind."

"_And you think that's enough?"_

"I think he'll be more than a match for anyone."

Tim imagined he could see Gibbs raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'll come straight back when we're done. I won't stop anywhere."

"_All right. Be careful. Call one of us when you get back."_

"I will, Boss. Thank you."

Tim thought that Gibbs would just hang up, but then, he spoke.

"_Good luck."_

"Thanks."

Tim hung up and looked at his father.

"I have to get Jethro to Gibbs' place and pack some things if we're going to be overnight."

The selkie just nodded, and before Tim knew it, he was on his way north.

To find his mother.


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

It was a long drive up the coast, and Tim had to beg off on driving overnight. The selkie acknowledged that rest would be a good thing. Tim found a hotel, and to his surprise, his father stayed in the room as well. Now, he slept in the bathtub in his seal form, but he didn't go to the ocean as Tim had thought he would.

Then, the next morning, they continued on up the coast. When they got north of Massachusetts, Tim began seeking out the beaches. He would stop and ask if it was the one. Sometimes, the selkie would get out and walk all the way to the water and look back and then return to the car. Other times, he would look and say no right away.

It was a slow journey, but with the possible reward, it was worth it.

"Here."

"What?"

"This is the one. This is where she was."

Tim pulled into a parking space at a beach. He got out of the car and walked to the sand. It was a narrow beach, mostly rock, but with some sand.

"This is where she was."

"Where?" Tim asked, looking around.

"Here. Where you stand. This is where she stood when she brought you to the sea."

"Oh."

Tim looked out at the ocean. This was where he had been brought by his human mother, where he had been given to his selkie father. Now, here he was again all these years later.

He took a breath.

"How long can you stay?"

"As long as is necessary, but no longer."

Tim smiled. Then, he sat down on the patch of sand. He didn't know if his plan would work, but he knew where he had come from, and that was something that mattered. He wanted more than this, but this was something.

They sat on the beach for a couple of hours in silence. The selkie didn't make any move to need to leave, and Tim didn't feel like leaving the beach where his parents had met. He just wanted to be here.

"Why do I look like I do?" Tim asked, suddenly breaking the silence.

"The one with the pictures on her skin says that is because of DNA."

Tim laughed at the description of Abby.

"But I looked a lot like the son of the people who took me in. So far as I know, they don't have any missing relatives."

"You were still young when you were trapped on land, barely not a pup by our view."

"Why would that make a difference?"

"Think of the seals. The pups are different colors when they are young. They change as they grow."

"Yeah, but that's a matter of months. I was a lot older than that."

"You are not a seal."

"Okay. But why would I look like their son?"

"I am not sure. It is different from how you looked when you were younger, but still like. I did not have any trouble knowing who you are."

"Could I have changed myself without knowing?"

"It is possible. You do not look like a selkie. Your eyes are light. Your hair is light. That is not like other selkies."

Tim nodded. He knew that much. All the selkies he had ever seen had dark hair and eyes, both male and female. He definitely didn't look like a selkie. He just didn't know if he had been the way when he was younger. He hadn't paid attention to himself. He didn't know what he had looked like when he was young.

Suddenly, his father straightened.

"There she is."

"What?"

"That woman there. She is older, but she feels the same as she did."

Tim followed the selkie's gaze toward a woman walking along the beach. She was walking perfectly along the edge. When the waves came in, she had one foot in the water, one on the dry land. She looked to be in her fifties.

"That's my mother?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Do you think she'll believe it?"

"That, I cannot say. She believed before."

"I don't know what to do," Tim said. "I don't know how to...approach her."

The selkie stood up and stared at her as she got closer. He didn't walk to her. He didn't speak. He just stood.

Tim could tell exactly when she'd noticed the selkie. She stopped walking and stood where she was. For a long moment, neither of them moved. Then, slowly, with great hesitation, she started walking again.

Tim stood up and moved slightly behind his father. Now that the moment was here, he was afraid.

At first, she didn't seem to notice him.

Then, finally, her eyes moved from the selkie to the man standing beside him. He saw that her eyes were a deep blue-green. It was like looking into the ocean. They widened and then she looked at the selkie again. Then, back at him.

"Is it real?" she whispered.

"Yes," the selkie said.

"How is this possible?"

"The selkie do not forget. You are still here. He asked to find you."

She took another step toward Tim.

"You don't look like a selkie," she said, her voice soft and shaky.

"I...don't have a skin anymore," Tim said, his voice equally soft.

"Why not?"

"It was stolen when I was...a lot younger. I've been living on land for most of my life."

"You've never found it?"

"I did. I destroyed it about four months ago."

Those eyes widened even more.

"Why?"

"To stay on land...with people I could love. I never knew what it was like until I was there."

None of them were touching. They were all standing just out of reach of each other. Tim took a breath and let it out quickly. Better to say what he wanted and let her know that she had an out if she wanted it.

"I wanted to find you, but I don't want to force myself into your life if it's not what you want. I just wanted to know both my parents. If you don't want to know me, that's fine. This can be it."

There was a long silence.

"I never gave you a name," she said, finally. "I think I always knew that I'd have to give you back to the sea. You must have a name now if you've been living on land."

"The people who found me and took care of me gave me the name of Tim. It was the name of their son who had died. I kind of...took his place."

"Tim."

"Yes. Tim McGee."

She nodded. Then, those ocean-colored eyes filled with tears and she reached out and pulled Tim into a tight hug. He hugged her back.

"The hardest thing I ever did was bring you here; so that you could be safe," she whispered. "The second hardest was making a life, knowing that I'd never see you again. Oh, Tim. This is a...a blessing I never thought I'd get."

Tim couldn't think of anything to say. He just was glad that his mother seemed happy to see him. She let him go and looked at him and then at the selkie again.

"You look the same," she said. "Why?"

"Because I do," he said.

"Thank you...for bringing him here."

The selkie nodded.

"Now, I must get back to the herd. It has been long enough."

"Thank you," Tim said.

Another nod and the selkie walked away.

"He hasn't changed in more than just how he looks," she said. "I thought you would look like him, but you don't. Not at all."

"I'm half human," Tim said. The conversation he'd had with his father was too complicated for this first meeting.

"Yes." She looked out at the ocean. "I come here every single day, reminding myself that I'm not supposed to be afraid of the future. It took months after I gave you back before I felt like I could really live, but I did. I kept the life I'd built for you when you were born. If it hadn't been for...that, I would have kept you."

Tim nodded. "I understand. I don't blame you. I grew up in a safe place. I was never neglected. If I had known about you when my skin was stolen, I would have tried to find you then...after I recovered from the loss a little."

"You said that you had people take you in."

"Yes. My family. The only one I knew for a long time."

"I don't want to take their place."

Tim shook his head quickly.

"No. I'm not worried about that." He smiled a little. "The only thing that kept me from being lost is love. It sounds cheesy when I say it out loud, but it's true. It's the people I've come to know. It took a long time to teach me what love was, but now that I know what it is, I can't give it up and the more that I have, the more I can give, the better my life is. My mom said that she'd like to meet you as long as you hadn't abandoned me. ...but they don't understand what I am. I've told them, but I don't think they really believe it."

"Very few do. It made me feel alone for a while," she said. "Until I could understand that most human beings just can't accept a reality they can't see."

Tim nodded.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I changed it to Shona when I turned eighteen. Before that it was Molly. Shona Daviss. I grew up believing in selkies, all through school, until I was told that they were just stories, just legends, myths. It was like someone had destroyed my whole life. Then, when I met him, I was given my life back again."

Tim let her talk, listening to the voice of his mother. It had a magical sound to it, as if she herself were partly in another world.

"All the selkie stories end in tragedy, but this one hasn't, and I never thought it would change. He told me that I shouldn't be afraid of the future. He was right. The future had something good it, something amazing."

She hugged him again and then laughed.

"I'm sorry. I'm going to talk your ear off. What...what now?"

"Well...I have to go back to work down in DC on Monday, but...maybe I could get to know you a little? And then, later, if you want, you could meet my family."

"That sounds wonderful, Tim. Thank you for finding me, for searching for me."

"Thank you for giving me a chance. That's what I needed."

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Tim spent the next two days with his mother. He stayed at a hotel overnight because it seemed a bit awkward to be in her house when they were just getting to know each other. She had never married, but as she said, she had a real life she was living. Shona had friends, a job, and she told him about herself, how she had run away from home, wanting to make a life worthy of being part of the selkie world, how nothing had worked out for her and she had almost given up when the selkie had come to her. Tim told her about his time with the selkies and then his years with the McGees. They were getting to know each other, but it would take time.

He called his mom and dad and told them about her. He knew they were surprised that he'd succeeded, but they also agreed to meet her if she ever wanted to. Tim knew that it wouldn't be easy to navigate between his mother who _knew_ that selkies were real and his human parents who couldn't bring themselves to believe it. Still, it would be worth the effort.

Then, the night before he was going to head back to DC, he decided to call Gibbs.

"Boss?"

"_Home, McGee?"_

"No. Maine."

"_You found her?"_

"Yeah. I did."

"_And?"_

"And...she's my mother," Tim said, unable to find the words for why that explained everything.

"_Was she happy to see you?"_

"Yes."

"_And are you happy to see her?"_

"Yes."

"_Are you coming back to work?"_

Tim smiled. "Yes."

"_Good. You still have to call when you get back."_

"I will."

"_I'm glad you found her, McGee. I hope it gives you what you want."_

"It's already given me something, Boss. I think it can only get better from here."

Gibbs hung up and Tim smiled as he lay on the bed. Were things perfect now? No. He didn't anticipate ever really losing that feeling of wanting to be in the ocean again, but he had so much here that the yearning was worth it.

And now, he'd found more. Even with all the problems that had accompanied his search, the results more than made up for it.


	17. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_One month later..._

Things had continued to improve at NCIS, which Tim loved. Jimmy and he were slowly getting back to the way things had been before and the team was starting to gauge that the others at NCIS were starting to forget about what had happened or at least not assume that Tim was going to go postal and kill them. Gibbs had gradually reduced the number of times he cautioned Tim about going places alone, which Tim appreciated. He liked having time to himself. His mother had met his parents and things were proceeding as well as they could on that front, which made Tim feel relieved. There would be more that had to be done for things to feel natural, but they were getting there.

And the balance he'd been trying to find was becoming more and more a reality. His life could never be completely in balance, but he knew that and accepted it.

It wasn't perfect, but he felt more than okay which was a relief. He'd had so many problems, so many struggles, but they were all helping him fit into the human life that he could never leave. It would, he hoped, feel less and less like a trap and more and more like a blessing.

Right now, he was sitting on the beach, staring at the water and enjoying the almost-foreign feeling of _not_ wanting to get into the water. He just enjoyed seeing it, hearing it, and knowing that it was there.

The seals were starting to head back into the water for their evening feeding. From a human perspective, Tim had to admit it was kind of funny how awkward they were on land and how graceful they were in the water.

"How did you know they'd be here?"

Tim jumped in surprise.

"I thought you were staying back, Abbs."

Abby grinned. "I couldn't. I'm too inquisitive. How did you know they'd be here?"

"I didn't. I just wanted to come. You're the one who was so focused on them."

Suddenly, one seal broke off from the others and waddled over. Tim sat up and looked around. The beach seemed vacant. The seal twitched its whiskers and then waddled toward a place where there were rocks to hide them from view. Tim followed...with Abby close behind.

Then, to Tim's surprise (again), the seal stretched upward.

...removing its seal skin, leaving his father standing before them.

"I can't believe you did that! Isn't it against the rules?" Tim asked.

"She already knows."

"And I got to see! Wow! Thank you!" Abby said. "That is _amazing_! So cool! That might be the coolest thing I've _ever_ seen in my whole entire life!"

The selkie smiled at her excitement.

"I felt she should receive a reward for the work she did. This is it. I cannot stay."

"I understand," Tim said. "I didn't expect to see you at all. I'm glad I did."

"Things are well for you and your mother?"

"Yes. A little awkward still, but getting better. Thank you."

The selkie nodded and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Abby said.

The selkie did as she asked.

"Could I..." She looked at Tim who shook his head at her. This was a bad idea. She ignored him. "I told you about DNA before."

"Yes," the selkie said.

"Could I take a sample of your DNA when you're a seal? I promise that this will never get shared anywhere. I just _really_ want to see it. See if I'm right."

The selkie stared at her in silence for some time. Then, he raised an eyebrow.

"What will be done with this DNA when you are finished seeing it?"

"I'll destroy it," Abby said, although Tim could tell that it pained her to say it.

Another long silence. Then, to Tim's surprise, he nodded.

"I will not change again. Farewell, Tim," the selkie said. It was the first time he'd used Tim's name and it was also a surprise. "We will only see each other if the seals come this way again. It may never happen, but then, again, it may."

Tim grinned. "I understand."

Then, the selkie returned to his seal form and waddled close enough to Abby to let her take her DNA sample. She was giddy with excitement as he flopped back into the water.

"I can't believe it, Tim! It's so amazing."

Tim smiled at how happy this made her. In a way, it was like what had driven his mother when she was young. Abby had joy just in knowing that it was all real. She wanted to see the scientific details, but knowing that it was real was more than half the beauty of it.

"Tim, is it okay that I took some of your time with your dad?"

Tim smiled. "It's fine, Abby. I wasn't expecting to see him when we came here. I'm surprised he did what you asked."

"I'm just that persuasive," she said. "Do you want to know what I find?"

"Of course."

"Good. It'll take a while since we don't have the full sequence for a regular seal DNA. I can't just compare. I don't know how long it will take to finish it."

"Do you think it'll matter?"

"I don't know, but it'll be interesting...because _you're_ interesting."

"I don't know if I need to be that interesting."

"You just can't help it, Tim. You're interesting."

They laughed and left the beach together.

FINIS!


End file.
